Children getting vaccinated for corona virus in Ahmedabad. (Express photo by Nirmal Harindran)
Manufacturers question ICMR’s 5-day window to license their Omron kits
Several domestic in vitro diagnostic (IVD) test kit manufacturers have questioned the short deadline of 5 days prescribed for submission of Expression of Interest (EoI) for commercialization of diagnostic kits developed by the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR). Detecting the omicron type of coronavirus.
Their reasoning: Since the anticipated Omicron surge will trigger an unprecedented but relatively short-term demand for targeted testing kits, any opening over those who missed the 5-day window would greatly benefit some who did not.
On 17 December, the ICMR extended by 22 December for “Real-time RT-PCR Assay through a Novel Diagnostic Kit for Transfer of Technology for Development and Commercialization of SARS-CoV-2 Omicron (B.1.1.529)”. EOI invited. ICMR-Regional Medical Research Center (RMRC), Dibrugarh.
Rising Covid-19 numbers may blunt upswing in services
A five-fold increase in the daily count of Covid-19 in the last seven days to 33,750 on Monday, and new restrictions on the movement of people by states, suggest that the service sector will be under pressure and potentially crippled if the case count continues. will be flat. in the coming weeks. But it may be short-lived.
According to the Google Mobility Index, visits to retail outlets such as restaurants, shopping centres, cinema halls etc on November 3, a day before Diwali, were 13 per cent higher than the pre-Covid baseline: the highest in 2021. Since then, the metric has fallen and remained close to ‘0’ for most of December. With the new clampdown, a slide below zero is likely.
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