Chennai: The Tamilnadu government has announced returning 24,000 rapid test kits imported from China, hours after the ICMR asked States to stop using the COVID-19 rapid antibody kits procured from two companies in the Asian country to be sent back to the suppliers.
“As per the ICMR order, all 24,000 kits received by the Tamilnadu government are being returned,” Health Minister C Vijayabaskar said in a statement.
He said, “Tamilnadu placed the order with Wondfo, a company that manufactures test kits, through a Shan Bio-Tech dealer. Each kit was purchased at Rs 600 (excluding GST). This was the price stipulated by the ICMR.”
Reacting to allegations from the DMK that the State had ordered from the company which was not approved by the ICMR, the Minister said that ICMR had given approval to buy from Wondfo.
“Since the list will only have the name of the manufacturing company, Wondfo, and not that of the dealer and importer, it is wrong to say that the Shan Bio-Tech name is not there in the ICMR approved list. DMK leader MK Stalin should understand this, rather than go by some media reports,” he added.