ICMR exploring saliva-based tests to diagnose Covid-19: Harsh Vardhan

The Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) is exploring the saliva based test method for Covid-19 and while it has validated a few tests, it has not found any to be reliable, Harsh Vardhan, health and family welfare minister said on Sunday.

The minister, while addressing a social media dialogue, said that companies with tests approved by the USFDA had still not approached the Indian government.

 

Vardhan also said that no significant or drastic mutations had been found in strains of SARS-CoV-2 in India till now. He said that ICMR had been conducting large-scale sequencing of nationally representative strains of the coronavirus collected over the past several months over different time-points. He added that detailed results on mutations and evolution of the virus would be available in early October.

The health minister said that the government had dispatched oxygen concentrators to the rural parts of the country to “avert the logistic issues coming to light.”
 

Speaking on the issue of restarting the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine trial, Vardhan  said, “The trials have been restarted only after an independent investigative expert committee gave them the permission to proceed ahead.”