India receives 6.5 lakh test kits from China to combat coronavirus

China on Thursday dispatched 6.5 lakh rapid anti-body test kits to India to help the country fight the COVID-19 pandemic.

“IndiaFightsCoronavirus: A total of 650,000 kits, including rapid anti-body tests and RNA extraction kits, have been dispatched early today from Guangzhou Airport to India,”  Indian Ambassador to China Vikram Misri tweeted.

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#IndiaFightsCoronavirus A total of 650,000 kits, including Rapid Antibody Tests and RNA Extraction Kits have been despatched early today from Guangzhou Airport to #India | #2019nCoV #StayHomeSaveLives @MEAIndia @HarshShringla @DrSJaishankar

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— Vikram Misri (@VikramMisri) April 16, 2020

India will procure over two million test kits from China over the next two weeks which will augment the country’s capacity to detect coronavirus patients and treat them.

This comes at a time when India has intensified its battle against the pandemic which has infected more than 12,000 people and claimed over 400 lives in the country.

Official sources said the External Affairs Ministry has been at the forefront of the government’s COVID-19 response to ensure vital medical supplies from other countries.

”A total of 300,000 rapid anti-body testing kits from Guangzhou Wondfo Biotech Co. and 250,000 from Zhuhai Livzon Diagnotics Inc besides 100,000 RNA extraction kits from MGI Tech Co. from Shenzhen were cleared by the Chinese customs late on Wednesday and dispatched today,” sources said.

The Indian Embassy in Beijing and the Consulate in Guangzhou played a key role in securing the test kits, they added.

So far, India has relied on the definitive RT-PCR or reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction tests that involve taking a throat swab. The country is also looking at the anti-body test that includes examining whether a person has antibodies for fighting the SARS-CoV-2 in their bloodstream, an indication whether the person or people tested have been exposed to or have COVID-19.