NEW DELHI: The government is weighing the utility of the newly acquired rapid antibody testing kits received from China amid concerns about variations in its results even as the Indian Council of Medical Research is in the process of finalising its report on the tests.Official sources said there are concerns over a wide range of results even though some states found the kits useful. As the government awaits ICMR 's report, officials said there is a wariness of the quality of the Chinese-supplied kits, given the problems products from that country have reported elsewhere. They stressed that the payments had not been made and ICMR's views are being awaited.While the rapid tests are seen as a useful and important addition to the options in surveillance and trend spotting in hotspots, the core testing strategy remains focused on RT-PCR – considered the ‘gold-standard’ test for Covid-19, official sources said.The high level Group of Ministers (GoM) on Covid-19, headed by health minister Harsh Vardhan , on Saturday reviewed the testing strategy and availability of testing kits across the country along with the strategy for hotspots and cluster management.“The understanding so far is that there is no uniformity in results received through these tests. Even ICMR has found certain discrepancies. However, there is also uncertainty about extent to which testing protocols are being followed in field in states,” a senior official said. “In this context, the consensus is to defer a decision on rapid antibody tests,” he added.Another official said ICMR is also in discussion with the two Chinese companies that supplied the five lakh rapid antibody kits earlier this month. “The companies maintain that the test and operation procedure must be conducted in strict accordance with the specifications. Besides, the kits need to be stored according to its storage and stability guidelines,” he said.The government is also of the view that rapid antibody testing may be started once supply of locally manufactured kits starts.Earlier this week, ICMR’s head epidemiologist Dr RR Gangakhedkar had said that states have been asked to put a halt to the usage of serology kits after some complaints were received about its results and that ICMR will investigate the matter. However, the next day, ICMR issued a letter to states asking them to follow its testing protocol on rapid antibody testing.On Friday, health minister Harsh Vardhan said the faulty kits will be returned to the manufacturers.The government maintains there is adequate capacity and RT-PCR kits to conduct more tests. So far, 579957 tests have been conducted through RT-PCR.The GoM was informed that all districts have been asked to follow and further strengthen their contingency plans to combat Covid-19—state-wise details of dedicated Covid-19 hospitals along with adequacy of isolation beds/wards, PPEs, N-95 masks, drugs, ventilators, oxygen cylinders etc.According to the health ministry, currently more than 1 lakh PPEs and N-95 masks are being manufactured every day in the country. There are at present 104 domestic manufactures of PPE and three making N-95 masks. In addition, production of ventilators by domestic manufacturers has also started and orders have been placed for more than 59,000 units through nine manufacturers.