Bengal pins COVID-19 testing delays on 'defective kits' from ICMR, urges immediate probe

After being on receiving end of criticisms for a low testing rate in state, Mamata Banerjee-led West Bengal government has w put onus on  Indian Council of Medical Research-National Institute of Cholera and Enteric Diseases (ICMR-NICED) for state's low testing capacity by saying that ICMR-NICED supplied defective COVID-19 test kits.

state's health department in a series of tweets has accused ICMR and said that re was problem when testing kits were procured from National Institute of Virology, Pune but problems surfaced when y started receiving kits from ICMR.

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This accusation seems to be in response to NICED which is a dal testing facility of ICMR in Kolkata. At beginning of last week, ICMR had said that state government is t sending eugh samples for COVID-19 testing. Dr Shanta Dutta, Director, ICMR-NICED had said that re was a big drop in number of samples sent by government. "If y send more samples, we are able to test more. I think sample collection has t been as per recommendation. So number tests being done in Bengal is also less,” Dr Dutta had said.

row

As COVID-19 continues to grip country and world, a major row erupted has in West Bengal, with many in medical fraternity and opposition parties saying that state was reporting fewer cases as only a minuscule of population is getting tested for deadly virus. state has reported 310 cases of Coronavirus, while 12 of m have succumbed to virus.