Korean kits good, officials tell CM YS Jagan Mohan Reddy

Amaravati: The South Korean Rapid Test kits have been yielding satisfactory results, informed the Health, Medical and Family Welfare (HMFW) officials to Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy on Wednesday during a review meeting on the status of the Covid-19, at his residence at Tadepalli.

The officials further explained that since the Chinese test kits failed in the primary tests conducted in the State, the government rejected them.

Amidst tough competition from the United States of America, the AP government was able to procure and import the kits from South Korea in a special flight, explained Nilam Sawhney, Chief Secretary and K S Jawahar Reddy, Special Chief Secretary, HMFW, to the Chief Minister.

Before purchasing the kits, the AP government tested the Covid-19 positive, negative and discharged patients with the Chinese rapid test kits. At that time, they failed to provide proper results, hence the AP government rejected them, the officials explained.

It is known that the Rajasthan government reported that the rapid test kits were giving inaccurate results on Covid-19 tests. Based on this report, the Indian Council for Medical Research (ICMR) suggested to all the States to stop using the rapid test Kits for at least couple of days. The Chief Minister discussed the issue with the officials during the review meeting, who assured that the rapid kits purchased by the AP government were good enough and providing results at satisfactory level.

In addition to that, the officials informed the Chief Minister that they had been monitoring worldwide developments on the Covid-19 prevention and curative technologies.

Oxygen levels of the patients undergoing treatment at hospitals were being checked every six hours, the officials said.

On the other hand, the Chief Minister directed the officials to provide Rs 2,000 to each stranded AP fisherman in Gujarat. There are around 6,000 fishermen from AP stranded in Gujarat due to the lockdown. Officials were directed to ensure safe return of the fishermen and their wellbeing.