CoviSelf kit: How you can test yourself for Covid-19 at home: Here is 10-point guide

New Delhi: The Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) has approved the country’s first self-testing kit for home use for suspected Covid-19 patients. This kit will reduce burden on existing laboratories, reduce stress on manpower required for home testing, and provide quick results.

Its efficacy, however, is not 100 per cent and has chances of false negatives even if a person has Covid-19.

Here is some points how you can check

1 – The Covid-19 testing kit to be used at home is called CoviSelf. It is a rapid antigen testing (RAT) for the presence of SARS-CoV-2. CoviSelf tests only the nasal sample of the person required to screen one’s Covid-19 status.

2 – The ICMR said home testing by RAT is advised only in symptomatic individuals and immediate contacts of laboratory-confirmed positive cases.

3 – No prescription by a doctor is required to test samples by CoviSelf kits. The test is “authorised for non-prescription home use with self-collected nasal swab specimens from individuals aged 18 years and older or with adult-collected samples from individuals.

4 – The CoviSelf kit comes with a manual detailing how to conduct the Covid-19 test. The kit is placed inside a pouch containing a nasal swab, a pre-filled extraction tube and a test card.

5 – After procuring the CoviSelf kit, the users need to download the Mylab app on their mobile phones and fill up their credentials.

6 – The user has to be careful while gathering the nasal sample. The swab head that comes with the kit should not be touched. This swab needs to be inserted two-three centimetres inside the nostrils, and rolled five times inside each nostril.

7 – Next, the user must dip the swab in the pre-filled extraction tube and pinch the tube at the bottom. Now, the nasal swab needs to be spun 10 times, making sure that the sample containing part is immersed well in the extraction buffer.

8 – There is a breakpoint marked on the swab. Break the swab and discard the remainder while mixing it well in the extraction buffer. Cover the tube with an attached nozzle cap and tighten the lid.

9- Now, add two full drops of extracted antigen buffer mixture into the sample well of the kit by pressing the tube. Results will appear in 10-15 minutes. If results don’t reflect in 20 minutes, it is Covid-19 negative. Results that appear after 20 minutes are not valid.

10 – The results will be available on the app that user had downloaded on the phone. The app is centrally connected to the ICMR server notifying the agency about the result. A positive result is confirmed. However, a negative result with a person showing symptoms should go for RT-PCR lab testing.