China Blames India For ‘Mishandling' Rapid Testing Kits

As the Indian Council for Medical Research (ICMR) asked state governments to return the rapid antibody testing kits that India had procured from China over inaccurate results, China has questioned the handling of the testing kits by Indian agencies.

- Geeta Mohan

ICMR, India’s nodal body monitoring Covid-19 in India, has asked the state governments to return the rapid antibody test kits. Beijing has now expressed concern and questioned the handling of the kits.

“We have also learned that there are strict requirements for the storage, transportation, and use of COVID-19 antibody rapid test kits. Any operation which is not carried out by professionals in accordance with the product specifications will lead to testing accuracy variations,” Counsellor Ji Rong, spokesperson of the Chinese embassy in New Delhi said on Monday.

ICMR has said that the rapid antibody tests showed a wide variation in results, which is against the assurances given by the manufacturers. States have been advised to return the kits to these companies.