New Delhi [India]: The rapidly increasing cases of COVID-19 in the national capital have led to an increase in the demand for self-testing kits. Just like oxymeters were in great demand during the second wave of the coronavirus pandemic, the third wave is seeing a sharp increase in demand for self-testing kits. Speaking about the increase in demand for COVID-19 self-testing, Delhi Retail Distribution Chemist Alliance (DRDCA) President Sandeep Nangia told ANI, “Recent trend is of COVID self-testing kit, the demand for which is high in the market. Most people are conscious about their health and people are aware as it is the third time. In Delhi, 5,000-10,000 kits are getting sold daily and it is in high demand.” Nangia also mentioned that the sale of the self-testing kit is high as per market study. Among the buyers are those people who, for some reason, are not able to get themselves tested. Speaking about the sale of Molnupiravir drugs, Nangia said it is only sold strictly on the basis of doctor’s prescription. Kanav Nangia, partner at Sunny co pharma, said there is high demand for COVID self-testing kit and stock is not at par with the demand which results in the stock getting exhausted within a day. Kanav also stressed that it could be a drawback for the government since they are not getting the data as people are taking the test at home and not revealing that they are positive or not. The self-test kits, available over the counter in chemist shops, contain a sterile swab, disposable bag, a prefilled extraction tube and a test card. The self-testing kits available in the market are rapid antigen kits that give out the result in less than 30 minutes. The suspected patients are required to insert the swab stick in both their nostrils, then dip the swab into the extraction tube and put a few drops of the liquid from the tube onto the test card. The test provides a negative or a positive result with the help of the control lines on the test card. As many as seven self-testing kits have been approved by the Indian Council of Medical Research including Coviself by Mylab, CoviFind by Meril Diagnostics, PanBio by Abbott among others. The cost of these kits ranges from Rs 250 to Rs 350. Delhi reported 20,181 fresh cases in 24 hours in the last 24 hours, taking the daily positivity rate to 19.6 per cent.
