The home test should be conducted according to an app that can be downloaded from the Google Play and Apple store

New Delhi: Rapid Antigen Kits to conduct COVID test at home got a green signal on Wednesday and the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) — the nodal body in the fight against the virus — has issued guidelines on who can use it and how.

ICMR has approved the self-test rapid antigen COVID-19 testing kit ‘CoviSelf’ developed by Mylab Discovery Solutions. Using the kit people can collect their own nasal swab and check results within minutes. This will immensely help in early and quick detection which is key to the treatment. 

The ICMR has made it clear that only symptomatic individuals and immediate contacts of people who tested positive in the laboratory should use the home test. “Indiscriminate testing is not advised,” the top medical body said.

“All individuals who test positive may be considered as true positives and no repeat testing is required… All symptomatic individuals who test negative by RAT should get themselves immediately tested by RT-PCR,” the ICMR said.

The CoviSelf TM (PathoCatch) COVID-19 OTC Antigen LF device was created by the Pune-based Mylab Discovery Solutions Ltd. The home test should be conducted according to the process detailed in an app, which should be downloaded from the Google Play store and Apple store, the ICMR said.

“The mobile app is a comprehensive guide of the testing procedure and will provide a positive or negative test result to the patient. All users are advised to click a picture of the test strip after completing the test procedure with the same mobile phone,” the ICMR said.

The data from the phone will be centrally captured in a secure server which is connected with the ICMR COVID-19 testing portal, where all data will be eventually stored.