Pune, August 23, 2020: The COVID-19 pandemic continues to spread across the country. An effective way to curtail the spread of the virus is to conduct tests on a timely basis so that the infected patients can be identified at an early stage, enabling their treatment. More importantly, an early detection can help prevent these individuals from inadvertently infecting others.

Indian Institute for Science Education and Research Pune has been at the forefront of scientific research, having been declared as an institute of national importance by an Act of Parliament. Given the current scenario, IISER Pune set up a testing centre within its campus on May 21, 2020 to conduct COVID-19 tests. As of August 15, 2020,it had tested close to 15,000 samples arriving from hospitals in and around Pune.

However, as the pandemic spread, the existing infrastructure for IISER became inadequate to meet the demand for testing. Its existing machines had a limited output, allowing only 250 tests to be conducted per day.  To address the issue, the institute required the new RT-PCR (Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction) machines. The challenge was that these machines were expensive, making funding imperative.

ICICI Lombard, one of India’s leading non-life insurance companies, has come forward to fund the procurement of an RT-PCR machine for IISER Pune. It has contributed Rs 20 lakh as part of the initiative. IISER Pune’stesting capacity will rise significantly upto 500 tests per day, with the new equipment. ICICI Lombard’s financial support for the RT-PCR machine at IISER Pune’s COVID-19 testing centre comes at an opportune moment and is an important contribution to fight COVID-19.

Prof. Sanjeev Galande, Dean (R&D) at IISER Pune ( Indian Institute for Science Education and Research Pune, Dr. Homi Bhabha Road, Pune 411008. www.iiserpune.ac.in ) welcomed this support and said, “The contribution by ICICI Lombard is instrumental in increasing the throughput and reducing the turnaround time at our COVID-19 Testing Centre. We, at IISER Pune, are committed to contribute towards the country’s effort in its fight against the COVID-19 pandemic. This is being done in two ways, first, by providing testing services and secondly by using our expertise towards COVID-19 specific research projects.”

Bhargav Dasgupta, MD & CEO, ICICI Lombard General Insurance said, “At ICICI Lombard, we have always played a proactive role in contributing towards the well-being of the community. As part of our CSR agenda, we have been taking various initiatives towards the curtailment of COVID-19. When we came across the requirement of IISER Pune pertaining to the procurement of RT-PCR machines, we thought it imperative to come forward, given the criticality of the equipment to conduct timely tests and thereby curtail the pandemic. The testing apparatus can detect multiple viruses including COVID-19, adding to their versatility. We are thankful to IISER for giving us the opportunity to contribute to an important cause.”

The contribution is part of ICICI Lombard’s multiple CSR initiatives towards curtailing the spread of the coronavirus. It has already contributed Rs 5 crore to the PM CARES Fund and an additional Rs 5 crore towards free COVID-19 testing for the underprivileged, in partnership with reputed diagnostic brands such as Apollo Lifestyle & Health, Metropolis Healthcare and Suburban Diagnostics.

Also Read: HEALTH INSURANCE POLICY : WHAT IS THE NEED?

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As COVID-19 deaths and hospitalizations keep mounting every passing day, adequate testing has become a pressing issue. Though conversations around “need for adequate testing” have been on the rise in the past few months unfortunately, majority of these conversations do not consider some critical issues around test characteristics, test availability and most importantly, test strategy.

The infrastructure needed to detect SARS-CoV-2 infection that adequately complies with WHO guidelines is lacking across many parts of the globe, especially in developing countries. The problems faced are many and hence, there is an immediate need for the national and international communities to collaborate in the development of novel protocols for rapid detection of COVID-19 to fight effectively against the outbreak.

It is crucial to address the issue

According to a report by Science Direct, while the majority of people with COVID-19 develop a mild illness, around 14% develop severe disease requiring hospitalization, and 5% need ICU support. Inadequate medical facilities to patients in a community can lead to more disease transmission from untreated cases. WHO has strongly recommended testing of both the suspects for COVID-19 and those who have been in contact with them to curb the chances of infection in a community.

However, due to the lack of appropriate resources like testing laboratories and kits, we are facing an increasing number of fatalities while struggling to contain the spread of viruses. The WHO has recommended using a reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR)-based protocol for testing COVID-19 infection. However, it involves a huge cost as it requires RNA extraction kits, costly RT-PCR machines, and trained technicians to operate them. The establishment of this facility requires huge expertise, investment and time, which are currently limited by the crisis. Alternative testing protocols that are equipped to allow testing with limited resources will be incredibly useful. 

Diagnostic testing: a key issue in India

Diagnostic testing is a key agenda of the policy debate around COVID-19 interventions in India. According to the Center for Global Development, as of June 1, 2020, approximately 3.8 million tests had been conducted in India since it began in February. However, considering the size and needs of the population, it is still drastically insufficient. If we compare daily COVID-19 tests in India with other countries, the number is quite low, 0.08 tests per 1,000 people in India against 1.16 in the US and 1.02 in Italy.

Also, the test positivity rate on the same day stood at about 5% which is within the WHO’s recommended rate of <10%. If we look at the scenario at global level, testing inadequacy has hampered the COVID-19 response in the USA, Europe, and Brazil; it may prove to be an even greater challenge in India. The RT-PCR throat/nasal swab test, as recommended by WHO and ICMR, has been the key diagnostic test used in India. However, the central organisation has recently directed states to conduct serosurveys using an IgG ELISAtest which provides information about the history of the infection as against RT-PCR which detects the presence of a live virus.

The rapid antibody tests can help guide isolation policies and better track people who are immune. Currently, 1,00,00 tests are being conducted in the country every day, which the government aims to double but the reality is that even doubling the number, is not sufficient. If we look at the experiences of the USA and Europe, testing needs to be increased by ten times to achieve a meaningful epidemiologic understanding of the prevalence. Such a large-scale increase would put the testing supply chain’s scaling-up ability to the test as there have already been many reports revealing long turnaround time for test reports, shortages in testing supplies and delays in timely notification. Testing can be termed adequate only when there is a proper interpretation of test results and mandated follow-up actions.

Recommended Actions

1. Build a pragmatic testing strategy:

The most important component of a scaled-up testing strategy is using a combination of PCR tests, antibody tests, and at-home testing. Many countries, including the UK and the USA, are increasingly using antibody tests as they are capable of identifying pockets of infection at a large scale and those with immunity. They will help the government to become more targeted and pace up economic recovery. The pooling of RT-PCR samples has been efficient for surveillance of international passengers and migrant workers in addition to being cost effective and therefore, it has the ability to ramp up testing strategy. Moreover, from the experience of the USA, at-home testing and specimen collection has a great scope in the future.

2. Faster turnaround time for testing:

Rapid turnaround time helps in quicker isolation of confirmed cases and contact tracing and also, it provides more up-to-date and reliable data. Improving TAT requires a more careful analysis of the trade-offs involved. TAT should be publicly reported, like the number of tests carried out daily. This would enable faster detection of testing bottlenecks in addition to enabling their proactive resolution.

3.Re-design the supply chain network:

To scale-up the testing capability, it is important to refine the supply chain strategy and determine the optimal product sourcing and inventory deployment rules. Proactively understanding the possible constraints in advance can help in reconfiguring the supply chain before they slow down the whole system.

Dr. Kanav Kahol – CEO
 Pink Tech Design,New Delhi

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Mumbai, India–3rd April, 2020: Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc., the world leader in serving science, is accelerating its efforts with diagnostic testing and vaccine development technologies to effectively manage COVID-19 outbreak in the country.In India, Thermo Fisher is working closely with the relevant government organizations as well as private testing laboratories to support scale up of testing.

Thermo Fisher has been supplying reagents and other personal protective equipments to several government approved testing laboratories across the country. These tests are performed on Real Time PCR instruments and can be conducted on other supplier instruments. The company has ramped up its efforts to produce these reagents and is well-positioned to cater to the growing requirement of conducting more tests as situation evolves.

Thermo Fisher Scientific has received Emergency Use Authorization (EUA) by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for its TaqPath COVID-19 Combo Kit for the qualitative detection of nucleic acid from SARS-CoV-2 in nasopharyngeal swab, nasopharyngeal aspirate, and bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL). The company also received the CE mark in the European Union (EU) for its diagnostic test to detect COVID-19

The move comes in synchronization with utilizing Thermo Fisher’s Applied Biosystems TaqPath assay designed to provide patient results within four hours of a sample being received by a laboratory. The estimated time-to-result includes time for sample preparation and analysis. In addition to receiving the designated approvals in the U.S. and E.U., Thermo Fisher’s diagnostic test has received the designated approvals in India, Canada, Singapore, Australia and New Zealand.

“Thermo Fisher Scientific in India is geared to support COVID-19 testing initiatives to ensure priority access to instruments, consumables, safety supplies and other products to rapidly and efficiently respond to the outbreak. We are carefully managing our inventory, production and supply chains to ensure we continue to manufacture and deliver the products and services our customers rely on. It is times like these that reinforce our commitment to our mission which is to enable our customers to make the world healthier, cleaner and safer”, said Amit Chopra, Managing Director, India and Middle East, Thermo Fisher Scientific.

Thermo Fisher has created an online resource to make it easier to find up-to-date information about its response to the COVID-19 pandemic, including availability of its diagnostic test kits. It is the world leader in serving science, with annual revenue exceeding $25 billion.  For more information, please visit www.thermofisher.com

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Mumbai, March 26, 2020: The Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR), the country’s apex biomedical research body has given license to Metropolis Healthcare to do the testing of COVID-19.As per ICMR’s guidelines, Metropolis is testing people with travel history and symptoms; the people who were in direct contact with positive cases; and the one who have symptoms of fever, cough, difficulty breathing, among such others. Testing is only undertaken upon the prescription of a certified doctor and on furnishing government’s ID proof.

We have already begun sample collection from home and testing in Mumbai. The customer can call our helpline number 8422801801 for any queries regarding COVID-19 testing. We are evaluating their doctor’s prescriptions, and then are collecting the samples from their home. Patients can directly call up the lab but should fulfil ICMR guidelines i.e. they should have doctor’s prescription and should WhatsApp the same to us on this number – 8422801801,”said Dr Nilesh Shah, Group President, Metropolis Healthcare Ltd, Mumbai.

All COVID – 19 reports are released within 24 hours. All positive test results are notified to the ICMR immediately. For testing, Metropolis Healthcare Ltd has procured kits which ICMR has approved. The test is based on real time PCR technology. The test is consists of two parts – screening and confirmatory; and both the tests are done together for the best possible outcome for the patient.

Metropolis Healthcare Ltd’s team of technicians have undergone rigorous training for sample collection of COVID – 19. Its laboratory in Mumbai is already specialised for Swine Flu. The testing and sample collection methodology of COVID-19 is same as Swine Flu. Metropolis Healthcare Ltd’s technicians are equipped with full protective gear, masks and goggles to ensure safety of the technician and of lab personnel.

Metropolis Healthcare Ltd’s Mumbai Helpline Number: 8422801801

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Delhi, March 25, 2020: Neuberg Diagnostics Private Limited, a StartUp in the PathLab chain segment,  has  commenced  COVID testing in its Neuberg Ehrlich Laboratory, Chennai post the approval from ICMR. Neuberg is the only Lab Chain in India, whose 4 facilities have been approved by ICMR and will offer COVID – 19 RT PCR tests through its laboratory in Ahmedabad (Neuberg Supratech), Bangalore (Neuberg Anand), Chennai (Neuberg Ehrlich) and Pune (Neuberg AG).

Commenting on the development, Dr. GSK Velu, Chairman & Managing Director, Neuberg Diagnostics Private Limited said “COVID-19 has been declared a global emergency by the World Health Organization, as the outbreak continues to spread beyond China. India is currently between Stage 2 and Stage 3 of the disease spread. The Government of India is taking the right measures to curtail its spread. Neuberg is happy to support its efforts towards testing of a symptomatic individual currently and later asymptomatic individuals, as it may be required to augment the travel ban, identify individuals with the infection, isolate them so that the virus can be curtailed.”

“We have also set up a special support fund for the weaker sections of the society. Through this we will offer free of cost testing to people with a BPL ration card and appropriate doctor prescriptions,” added Velu. Neuberg will be scaling up its capacity up to 2000 to 2500 tests per day as per ICMR guidelines by next week.

Dr. Saranya Narayan, Technical Director & Chief Microbiologist, Neuberg Diagnostics Private Limited said, “Neuberg Ehrlich Laboratory, Chennai has started collecting COVID samples from the lab as well as home from 8 am to 4 pm. The mandatory requirement is the Identity and Address proof, Requisition/Prescription from Physician with their Medical registration number. Neuberg will provide reports within 24 hours in Ahmedabad, Bangalore, Chennai and Pune and within 48 hours from other cities subject to uninterrupted courier movements.”

“Reporting and sample acceptance will be strictly in accordance with the ICMR guidelines and will follow ICMR prescribed MRP of INR 4500,” she added.Home pick will also be done through PPE equipped phlebotomists in these four cities.

The COVID-19 testing in Neuberg’s labs will follow guidelines by ICMR and other competent government agencies. COVID–19 samples from hospitals, nursing homes, and other healthcare providers can be tested in the labs.  People who fall under the testing criteria set by ICMR can get themselves tested at Neuberg’s  labs, but they need to contact the lab before visiting to ensure minimal risk of community spread and need to call on 04448505050 and 8939999215 (between 8 am and 8 pm).If the patient has no travel history but is in the hospital with symptoms of respiratory illness like pneumonia, she or he can also be tested.

As per the guidelines issued by ICMR for COVID-19 testing in private laboratories, Neuberg will provide the test to an individual only when prescribed by a qualified physician, while also adhering to the sample collection and testing guidelines set by ICMR. All COVID-19 positive samples will be transported to ICMR-NIV (National Institute of Virology), Pune under suitable Biosafety and Biosecurity precautions as laid down by ICMR.

For more details on COVID-19 testing at Neuberg, one may reach out to Neuberg Diagnostics at +91 97003 69700 or covidhelp@neubergdiagnostics.com.

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