NEWDELHI/ERNAKULAM : In a setback to India’s rapid testing-based surveillance, the first samples of state-owned HLL Lifecare Ltd’s indigenous rapid antibody test kits failed quality tests, three people said, requesting anonymity. “Out of the 100-odd samples, the first batch had accuracy problems.
We have sent the samples for a second round of testing, based upon HLL’s request," said a Kerala government official. The first batch of HLL’s test kits were sent to Kerala.
The second testing, on a fresh batch of samples, will be done at the Alappuzha field station of the National Institute of Virology (NIV), he added.
The development could delay rapid antibody testing and India’s surveillance programme for determining the extent of covid-19