Odisha on Wednesday started trial operation of the ‘OmiSure’ RT-PCR test kit for early detection of the Omicron variant of Covid-19. OmiSure was developed by Tata Medical and Diagnostics Ltd in collaboration with the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR).

On January 10, Odisha ordered 500,000 ‘OmiSure’ kits, becoming the first state in India to purchase a kit capable of detecting rapidly spreading variants. In the first phase, the state has received 30,000 test kits.

Officials said the OmiSure kit can detect Omicron in nasopharyngeal/oropharyngeal specimens during RT-PCR testing. It is compatible with all standard RT-PCR machines.

“Trial runs of the OmiSure kits are underway. It will be used for internal research first, and then these kits will be sent to areas where more cases are being reported,” Bijay Mohapatra, director of the state’s health services, told news agency PTI.

Mohapatra said OmiSure will be available first in the cities of Berhampur, Cuttack, Rourkela and Bhubaneswar in Odisha, apart from areas with high Covid-19 positivity rates. According to official data on Tuesday, Sundargarh had the highest test positivity rate (TPR) at 36.1%, followed by Khurda at 31.1%. PTI further reported that 25 districts in Odisha are in the red zone with a TPR of over 7.5%. Odisha has so far reported 202 cases of Omicron since the variant was discovered in the country last December. On January 7, the state reported its first Omicron death, the second in India.

Meanwhile, the state’s daily Covid-19 case count continued to trend upward, with 11,607 infections recorded on Tuesday, pushing the number of cases to 11,67,094. Six more patients died, bringing the death toll to 8,494. Tuesday’s death toll was the highest in more than three months.

Complete News Source : Hindustan Times