You Can Self-Test For COVID-19 At Home
You Can Self-Test For COVID-19 At Home- Here A Step-By-Step Guide To Use CoviSelf
The Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) has greenlit a home test kit for COVID-19 in India. A new Rapid Antigen Testing (RAT) kit called CoviSelf lets you test yourself without the help of a healthcare professional. Announcing that the kit is only to be used by those experiencing symptoms of the coronavirus and those who have been in contact with persons who tested positive for COVID-19, the authority has issued a set of guidelines.
CoviSelf can be used by individuals at home. A doctor’s prescription is not needed and it only requires a nasal swab. People of 18 years of age and above can administer the test by themselves while an adult must collect nasal swabs for those aged 2 and above. The ICMR also mentioned that "indiscriminate testing is not advised”.
- Here's a step-by-step guide to using CoviSelf at home:
- RAT home-testing is only to be conducted for symptomatic people and those who came in close contact with people who have tested positive.
- Users will need to download the Mylab Coviself app on their smartphones which is available on the Google Play store and the Apple App store.
- The self-test kit comes with an extraction tube, a nasal swab, test card, and biohazard bag along with a manual for use.
- The swab needs to be inserted up to 2-3 centimeters in the nostrils and swirled 5 times in both nostrils. Check out the detailed steps to administer the test and interpret the results here. The results can be read within 15-20 minutes.
- Those who test positive should consider it a true positive test and no additional testing will be required. Those who test negative can go for an RT-PCR test especially if they continue to have COVID-19 symptoms.
- Users must click a picture of the test strip with the same smartphone on which the app has been downloaded.