New Delhi - The government ’s decision encouraging states to promote the use of COVID-19 home tests, proved to work during the surge of the Omicron variant in the country. Those testing positive with speedy, though less accurate tests were told to self-isolate at home, allowing hospital beds to remain available for the most vulnerable.

Experts have voiced concerns that despite rules requiring people to share their results with authorities, it does not happen all the time. This means the country’s testing data is less accurate and chances of future clusters going undetected increase.

Some states in India have already flagged the problem. In Maharashtra, state health official Dr. Pradeep Vyas recently appealed to all users to report their results. And since tests don’t differentiate between omicron and the deadlier delta variant, which also continues to spread in India, he warned there are still vulnerable people who need hospital care as reported by AP.

Since January, pharmacists in the state have begun keeping records of those buying home tests. But this isn’t the case in most Indian cities.

In interviews with AP, several people in the capital New Delhi admitted they tested positive using home tests but didn’t share their results with authorities.

With the highly contagious omicron variant still spreading throughout Asia, more countries are making a difficult compromise between accuracy and speed. Many are encouraging home tests to make sure patients do not strain the healthcare system.

In South Korea, officials said Wednesday that free coronavirus rapid test kits would be available at kindergartens, elementary schools and senior welfare centers starting next week after an unprecedented wave of omicron infections.

Officials rely on a centralized database where people upload their test results using a mobile app. MyLab, the first company approved for its COVID-19 home test, is producing 500,000 tests per day. Sales have jumped tenfold compared to last quarter, Saurabh Gupta, head of strategy at MyLab told AP. India has approved eight home tests so far, priced between 150Rs and 2500Rs.
-AP