Karnataka is facing an acute shortage of test kits as cases continue to spike

Bengaluru: Karnataka is now witnessing a shortage of Covid-19 testing kits and it is a hurdle in the fight against the pandemic. The state was already suffering from a shortage of oxygen and hospital beds.

The Covid Technical Advisory Committee (TAC) has warned the government that the situation can get worse if the number of tests fall. It has advised to purchase rapid antigen (RAT) and RT PCR test kits.

Dr MK Sudarshan, chairman of TAC said, “We have observed that testing has decreased due to a scarcity of kits. A severe shortage of RAT kits is hampering Covid management. We have strongly advised the government to provide kits without delay.”

The guidelines issued by the Centre states that 30% of tests should be done with RAT kits, but the state has ignored this rule and went ahead with RT PCR tests which is the gold standard for testing. On Monday, 7,065 RATs were conducted as against 1.2 lakh RT PCR tests.

There has been a steady decline in the number of tests done. More than 1.6 lakh RT PCR tests were done on May 1, whereas 13,278 were done using RAT kits. The RAT tests have fallen almost 50% in the past ten days.

According to the officials, at present rates, the stock of kits will last for only 10 days. This has forced the state to limit the tests in government labs only. The tests shall be done on only symptomatic patients and primary contacts. As the results are delayed, the state has directed to start the treatment without waiting for the results.

“It’s not about a shortage. The government wants judicious use of kits. The idea is not to waste resources and at the same time ensure medical services to those who need it most”, said CN Ashwath Narayan, deputy chief minister and chairman of Covid task force.

The policy change has led to new difficulties. Some private laboratories are deceiving the people who are seeking negative reports by charging Rs 4,000 per test when, in reality, they are supposed to charge only Rs 800.

Also, the policy of treating without the test results has resulted in unlimited calls for beds in hospitals. Narayan said, “We are aware of these issues. We have already upped vigilance and will punish labs that charge more than Rs 800 per test. Triaging will take care of the problem of hospitals being overburdened.”

KS Latha Kumari, managing director, Karnataka State Medical Supplies Corporation, stated that an order for over 42 lakh RT PCR test kits has been placed. She added that the process to purchase 30 lakh RAT kits has already been done.

Kumari said, “About 21 lakh RT PCR kits and 1 lakh RAT kits are available. More will arrive soon. I think there will be no dearth of test kits.”