Pune based Mylab Discovery Solutions – the company that gave India its first RTPCR test a year ago, has announced that it has received ICMR’s approval for India’s first self-use Rapid test for COVID-19. The test is developed in India and is named as CoviSelf.

The self-use test can be used by symptomatic individuals and immediate contacts of confirmed cases as per the guidelines of the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR). Users of this test will not need sample collection by a healthcare professional. This will ease pressure on already overburdened testing labs and reduce delays in testing, which is more than 72 hours in some parts of the country.

Each kit will be provided with all testing materials, instructions to use (IFU) leaflet and a biohazard bag to safely dispose after testing. The test is designed to be done using nasal swab (not the deep nasopharyngeal swab) to reduce the discomfort. CoviSelf will provide results in 15 min and people who test positive should immediately isolate so that they do not infect others and quickly contact a healthcare provider. Those who test negative and continue to experience COVID-like symptoms should seek follow up care from their healthcare provider.

Hasmukh Rawal, Managing Director of Mylab Discovery Solutions said that “This is the biggest crisis our country has ever faced. Time and again, we have tried to observe carefully what our country needs and developed solutions with social benefit at the core. With CoviSelf, we are sharing the power of testing early with the citizens. It will save thousands of lives. For India, we will make millions of kits available at fraction of the cost of such kits in the US.“.

Mylab will price this test at Rs 250 and it will be available in an affordable pack of one. The company will start shipping out tests within a few days. Mylab current production capacity is 70 lakh tests per week and plans to increase its capacity to 1 Crore tests per week within 14 days.