Mumbai, January 27
Roche Diagnostics has introduced its at-home Covid test kits in India. This comes at a time when the rapid spread of the Omicron variant has people isolating at home and testing themselves.
The over-the-counter test is priced at ₹275 for a kit, including a discount for early buyers. The kit has been approved by the Indian Council of Medical Research and can detect the SARS CoV-2 virus, including the Omicron variant, in individuals with Covid symptoms. The test delivers results in 15 minutes, it added.
Test kit
The test involves collecting samples from the front area of the nose, instead of the nasopharynx, in a simplified and more comfortable sampling procedure, the company said, adding it would be available in e-pharmacies and local pharmacies and required no prescription.
The kit included a test cassette, a sterile swab, a tube with liquid and nozzle cap, along with a guide and QR code to access the instruction video. Users also had to download the ‘My Covid-M’ app using the QR code, which would help them read and interpret the test results and also update the results to the ICMR database. The kit also comes with a biomedical waste disposal bag, it added.