Coronavirus
Covid-19: Indian Council of Medical Research Suspends Use Of Chinese Test Kits
India’s main medical research council has suspended the use of rapid testing kits imported from China after complaints of inaccurate results from various states.
“We are learning that the positive samples of RT-PCR are showing too much variation [when tested by rapid kits] in the range of 6 to 71%,” said Dr. Raman Gangakhedkar, a top scientist at the Indian Council of Medical Research, during his daily briefing on Tuesday.
He further added that eight ICMR institutes will test the kits in different states, in the next two days, to validate and check if a batch of the imported kits is faulty.
India became the world’s 17th country to record 20,000 COVID-19 cases after 1,493 cases were reported on Tuesday, the second-highest single-day spike after Sunday’s 1,553. India’s COVID-19 cases continue to surge despite the nationwide lockdown.
As per the John Hopkins Coronavirus Resource Centre, India has so far reported 20,178 cases and 645 deaths.
The faulty kits have led to a pause in the antibody testing, thus causing a dip in the testing rates. India’s testing rate dropped from 35,000 on Monday to 27,500 on Tuesday. This is the first batch of 300,000 of the testing kits, and a total of 650,000 kits were to be delivered by China.
“I had earlier suggested to GOI [government of India] that a centralized mechanism with proper guidelines of the quality check may be developed for the procurements of Medical equipment. Unfortunately, this was not accepted. Had this suggestion been accepted, failure of Rapid Test kits could have been avoided,” Ashok Gehlot, chief minister of the western state of Rajasthan, said on Twitter.
Kenya Insights allows guest blogging, if you want to be published on Kenya’s most authoritative and accurate blog, have an expose, news TIPS, story angles, human interest stories, drop us an email on [email protected] or via Telegram
Who Architected the Ksh 4.8 Billion Fuel Scandal? Two CSs Now Caught in the Storm
THE ZAKHEM-ECOBANK MACHINE: How Kenya’s Courts Were Weaponised to Drain a State Corporation of Over KES 78 Billion
Poison at the Pump: How Kenya’s Fuel Marking System May Be Exposing Millions to Cancer-Causing Chemicals
Inside Nyayo House: The Kitchen Cartel That Demands Sh100,000 for a Stove
JSC Rot: “Why I Paid Over Sh4 Million for a High Court Slot” — Explosive Claims by ‘Incoming Judge’
Fly 748 Is Back And Flies You To Mombasa From Just Sh6,500
KRA Introduces WhatsApp Tax Filing and How It Works
Trump Says Iran War Almost Over, Warns Of Weeks More Heavy Strikes
Sold And Abandoned: How Diageo and Asahi Are Locking Kenya’s EABL Minority Shareholders Out Of East Africa’s Biggest Corporate Heist
Treasury Hands Sh358M Brief to Eric Gumbo’s Firm While Bypassing Standard Rules — and the Lawyer Is Already Deep Inside Ruto’s State Machine
Tuju Forcefully Removed From His Karen Property With Masked Officers In Unmarked Vehicles In Early Morning Raid
How Little-Known Pesa Print, Linked to State House Tycoons, Won NTSA Tender Worth Sh42 Billion in Traffic Fines
Named: Havi Says Mutava Confessed He Was Collecting The Bribe For Lady Justice Josephine Mongare, So Why Is JSC Still Silence?
The Man With The Golden Pen: How NLC’s Joel Ombati Is Accused Of Masterminding Kenya’s Biggest Infrastructure Land Heist
‘They Will Eat You Alive’: Retired Teacher Warns Against Bashy African Credit as Sh500,000 Loan Spirals Into Sh1.5 Million Fight
THE HANDSHAKE THAT BECAME A NOOSE: How Tuju’s Alleged Intimate Access to EADB’s Yeda Apopo Produced a Sh294 Million Deal With No Written Contract, and Why That Trust Destroyed an Empire
Waweru’s Bank Pockets Sh1.16 Billion from KPC IPO While Ordinary Kenyans Fled the Sale
Forged Legacy: How Kaplan and Stratton’s Peter Gachuhi Is Accused of Faking a Top AG’s Will as State Claims Damning Evidence
Men Linked to Akasha Drug Dynasty Charged With Death Threats and Assault at Nairobi Nightclub
The New Master of the Nation: How a Tanzanian Billionaire With a President in His Pocket Just Bought Kenya’s Most Powerful Press
-
Business1 week agoTHE HANDSHAKE THAT BECAME A NOOSE: How Tuju’s Alleged Intimate Access to EADB’s Yeda Apopo Produced a Sh294 Million Deal With No Written Contract, and Why That Trust Destroyed an Empire
-
Investigations6 days agoForged Legacy: How Kaplan and Stratton’s Peter Gachuhi Is Accused of Faking a Top AG’s Will as State Claims Damning Evidence
-
News1 week agoMen Linked to Akasha Drug Dynasty Charged With Death Threats and Assault at Nairobi Nightclub
-
News1 week agoCity Lawyer Kimani Wachira Caught Up In Bribery Web Fights Claims
-
Business6 days agoHow Firm Linked To Mombasa Tycoon Jaffer Was Allowed To Import Fuel At Bloated Price And Set To Make Billions In Profits From Iranian War Crisis In Kenya
-
News5 days agoTreasury Hands Sh358M Brief to Eric Gumbo’s Firm While Bypassing Standard Rules — and the Lawyer Is Already Deep Inside Ruto’s State Machine
-
Business5 days agoSold And Abandoned: How Diageo and Asahi Are Locking Kenya’s EABL Minority Shareholders Out Of East Africa’s Biggest Corporate Heist
-
Business6 days agoTHE BANK THAT BROKE THE TRUCKER: How NCBA’s Asset Financing Empire Is on Trial Before London’s Most Feared Arbitral Tribunal