India to begin serological tests for COVID-19 in April
In a bid to fight the novel coronavirus pandemic, India is looking to bring a new tool into its arsenal - Serological testing. The tests, unofficially dubbed antibody assessment, will confirm if a patient had previously been infected by the novel coronavirus and help the government understand the situation of the outbreak in the country. Here's all about it.
Serological tests to begin from April
Just a few days back, the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) invited bids for the supply of 5 lakh serological test kits. Now, CNNNews18 reports that the kits in question would be arriving on April 5, post which the government will start testing the masses. Notably, these will be simple blood plasma tests, which would give the result in just 30 minutes.
Testing would not show active cases
Having said that, it is imperative to note that serological tests will not tell about active coronavirus infections. Instead, the examination looks for the presence of certain antibodies in the blood, which ultimately shows whether the person in question contracted the virus in the past and developed an immune response to recover from it or not.
So, how it would be useful?
Through these tests, ICMR will be able to identify workers who are more immune to COVID-19 and can work safely around critical cases. Secondly, these tests can answer bigger questions like how many people actually got infected. Recovering patients can also be tested repeatedly to see how long the immune response lasts, which might aid in vaccine development.
Many details still remain unclear
However, as of now, it is not exactly clear how ICMR will approach the serological tests, who will be tested first or how much the examination would cost. Still, the outcome of these tests, when conducted on the masses, would play a major role in answering questions around community transmission of the coronavirus and its impact on the Indian population.
So far, 1,251 have been infected by coronavirus
At the time of writing, at least 1,251 people in India are confirmed to have been infected by the novel coronavirus while 32 have passed away. Globally, the disease has claimed over 37,000 lives.
