Indian Council of Medical Research‘s (ICMR) Director General Dr. Balram Bhargava said on Tuesday that Rapid Antigen Tests (RATs) will be allowed at all government and private hospitals with no prior accreditation required. 

India has witnessed huge rise in COVID-19 cases in the past two months. In the wake of COVID upsurge, ICMR has made announcements to improve testing and tracking across the country.

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Here is all you need to know from ICMR’s latest presser:

– The medical council has announced that multiple 24×7 rapid test booths will be set up in cities, town and villages to provide easy access to COVID testing. 

– No prior accreditation will be required for rapid tests and will be allowed in all government and private health facilities.

– The rapid test booths will be set up with communities in schools, colleges, community centres and Resident Welfare Association offices.

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– RATs must be conducted in accordance with the algorithm provide by ICMR.

– All the COVID tests, whether RT-PCR or RATs must be uploaded on the ICMR portal.

– The medical council also gave a go ahead to public-private partnership models to establish innovative and convenient testing centres.

The real-time RT-PCR tests or RATs approved by global agencies such as USFDA, European CE/IVD, Korea’s Ministry of Food and Drug Safety, Pharmaceuticals and Medical Devices Agencies (PMDA) Japan, Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA) Australia, Brazil ANVISA and WHO Emergency Use Listing will be exempted from validation across the country. 

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ICMR DG Dr. Bhargava also added that home based testing solutions were also being explored.