As the Indian Council for Medical Research (ICMR) asked state governments to return the rapid antibody testing kits that India had procured from China over inaccurate results, China has questioned the handling of the testing kits by Indian agencies.

ICMR, India’s nodal body monitoring Covid-19 in India, has asked the state governments to return the rapid antibody test kits. Beijing has now expressed concern and questioned the handling of the kits.

“We have also learned that there are strict requirements for the storage, transportation and use of COVID-19 antibody rapid test kits. Any operation which is not carried out by professionals in accordance with the product specifications will lead to testing accuracy variations,” Counselor Ji Rong, spokesperson of the Chinese embassy in New Delhi said on Monday.

ICMR has said that the rapid antibody tests showed a wide variation in results, which is against the assurances given by the manufacturers. States have been advised to return the kits to these companies.

Counselor Ji Rong added, “ICMR made it clear that rapid antibody test kits should only be used for surveillance purposes instead of replacing RT-PCR test to diagnose and confirm the cases, and States are advised to strictly abide by the methods and purpose of the usage according to ICMR’s clear instructions.”

In a statement, ICMR once again said that it advocates the swab RT-PCR test for coronavirus testing as it “is the best way to test and identify the Covid positive case”.

Citing statements issues by the two medical companies, Ji Rong defended the two Chinese companies saying, “We have noticed that Guangzhou Wondfo Biotech and Zhuhai Livzon Diagnostics already issued statements on this issue. They both stressed that their COVID-19 antibody rapid test kits had obtained the certification from the National Medical Products Administration of China (NMPA), meet the quality standards of China and exported countries, and have also been validated and approved by ICMR through National Institute of Virology (NIV), Pune and considered as satisfactory products.”

“The COVID-19 antibody rapid test kits produced by these two Chinese companies have been exported to and well recognized in many countries in Europe, Asia and Latin America,” the statement further said.

The Centre had procured 5 lakh kits from two Chinese companies - Wondfo Biotech and Livzon Diagnostic and distributed among the states.

But after several state governments complained of inaccurate results, the kits were tested by the ICMR, following which they asked the states to stop future procurements and use of the ones distributed earlier.

While questioning India on the handling of the kits, the Chinese embassy also reminded New Delhi of the help being extended by Beijing in handling the coronavirus crisis.

“China not only sincerely supports India in its fight against Covid-19, but also takes concrete actions to help. The quality of medical products exported from China is prioritised. It is unfair and irresponsible for certain individuals to label Chinese products as "faulty" and look at issues with preemptive prejudice,” she said.

“Regarding the current issue occurred, we hope the Indian side could respect China’s goodwill and sincerity, strengthen communication timely with relevant Chinese companies based on facts, and resolve it reasonably and properly,” she added.

Even as the world fights the pandemic, China has become the largest manufacturer and exporter of medical equipment and protective gear. The acute shortage of these products is the reason why most countries continue to order medical equipment from China despite many countries complaining of faulty testing kits and substandard Personal Protection Equipment (PPE).

“We will continue to support India’s efforts in fighting Covid-19, strengthen medical and health cooperation, and jointly work with India to overcome the difficulties at an early date, so as to safeguard the safety and health of our peoples as well as global and regional public health security”, Ji Rong said extending full cooperation to India.