Nagpur updates:- India’s leading medical research council has prohibited the use of rapid test kits imported from China amid concerns about incorrect findings from various states.”We’re finding that the positive RT-PCR samples show too much variance in the range of 6 to 71 percent [when checked by rapid kits],” said Dr. Raman Gangakhedkar, a top scientist at the Indian Council of Medical Research, during his regular briefing Tuesday.
He added that, in the next two days, eight ICMR institutes will test the kits in different states to verify and check whether a batch of the imported kits is defective. India became the 17th country in the world to record 20,000 cases of COVID-19 after 1,493 cases were registered on Tuesday, the second-highest single-day spike after the 1,553 on Sunday. Despite the nationwide lockout, India’s COVID-19 cases continue to surge.
India has recorded 20,178 cases and 645 deaths so far, according to the John Hopkins Coronavirus Resource Centre.The defective kits led to a delay in the processing of the antibody, which caused a fall in the test results. India’s test pace decreased from Monday’s 35,000 to Tuesday’s 27,500. This is the first shipment of 300,000 of the test sets, and China will have shipped a total of 650,000 sets.
The faulty kits resulted in a delay in the antibody processing which caused the test results to fall. India’s test rate fell from 35,000 Monday to 27,500 Tuesday. It is the first shipment of 300,000 of the test sets and China will ship 650,000 sets in total.
Since a relative of a sanitation worker tested positive for COVID-19, the presidential palace on India’s high warning was placed under high alert. Inside the Presidential estate, the house of the sanitation worker has been disinfected and locked, while all other families living in the workers quarters have been quarantined.
After she came in touch with her mother, who died of COVID-19 last week, the suspected health worker’s daughter-in-law tested positive for the coronavirus. Both seven family members were transferred to a quarantine center.
“115 Presidential Estate houses have been listed for restriction of movement and residents are advised to remain indoors. These houses’ residents are being given doorstep delivery of critical commodities, “a Presidential House release said.
The statement also explained that no President’s Secretariat employee has tested positively for COVID-19, and the Secretariat, along with the Local Administration, is taking all the preventive measures needed under the government guidance. In the meantime, a northern Indian state declared that it would hold leaders of Tablighi Jamaat, a Muslim religious community that tested COVID-19 positively, in temporary prisons.The Hindu-dominated state of Uttar Pradesh has been taking stringent measures against Jamaat visitors, with 66 foreigners being sent to jail for allegedly defying visa requirements.
“All those detained, critical or suspected of COVID-19, and linked to Tablighi Jamaat or any other Jamaat, should not be held in normal prisons. Such citizens should be held in temporary jails, “a letter from the state government announced. At least 23 temporary prisons were built in the state. After their expulsion from the quarantine centers, International Tablighi Jamaat leaders are escorted to jails.
The Indian government came tough on Muslim religious groups after Tablighi Jamaat held an event in New Delhi on March 13-15, attended by thousands of Muslims from inside and outside the world. The Indian government-imposed limits on the mass meetings on March 16, a day later, and on March 22 the nation went into full lockdown.
The Ministry of Health reported on April 18 that 30%of the then 14,378 cases were linked to the Jamaat. A rights body of the Organization for Islamic Cooperation called on New Delhi to stop Islamophobia as reports of anti-Muslim campaigns surfaced in the region.
Maulana Muhammad Saad Kandhlawi, Tablighi Jamaat India’s president, is facing serious criminal charges for organizing the case and is missing at present. Tuesday he issued a statement asking Jamaat participants to donate blood plasma.
“It is important to save a sick person’s life during a crisis. People who are now being healed of COVID will donate blood plasma to those who are still battling the disease and seeking treatment. It is my humble request to show this act of kindness to all Muslims, “Saad claimed in his letter.
