Maharashtra asks firms to start antibody tests on their staff, Delhi still to decide

MUMBAI | NEW DELHI: Maharashtra has become the first state to take up the Indian Council of Medical Research’s "immunity certificate" plan, as the state government has asked private and government organisations to start using antibody tests on their employees as per the recommendation by the ICMR. India's capital is still waiting for a clarification from the government on using these tests.
The Maharashtra government and the Municipal Corporation of Greater Mumbai (MCGM) have asked hospitals, private establishments and corporate houses to start testing their employees to get them back to work.

'Immunity certificate, as per the World Health Organization, is an option that would enable individuals to travel or to return to work assuming that they are protected against re-infection. The WHO, however, has said also that there was not enough evidence to guarantee immunity based on antibody tests.

The city corporation in Mumbai has asked organisations to use the antibody tests developed by Abbott and Roche.

“MCGM has instructed corporate houses and private companies to procure kits from these companies and test their employees. This step will play a key role to curb the contagion as the city unlocks in a phased manner. It will also transform the private sector into an active participant that will help limit the spread of Covid-19," municipal commissioner Iqbal Chahal said in a statement.

In New Delhi, which has the second highest number of infected people in the country after Maharashtra, private labs have sought clarification from the ICMR on antibody tests, including its price.

"We don’t have any clarity as yet. The price will also be an issue. So, before we go ahead, we want to make it clear with the government,” said one of the large private labs in Delhi.

Several countries have proposed the idea of using antibody tests that detect the presence of antibodies developed for SARS-Cov2 in an individual. Antibody tests are blood-based and show whether an individual has previously been exposed to the SARS-Cov2 virus or not. The tests recommended by the ICMR are for detecting the Immunoglobulin-G antibodies.

The ICMR in its advisory note released this week said that since test, track and treat was the only way to prevent the spread of the infection and save lives, it was imperative that testing should be made widely available to all symptomatic individuals in every part of the country. It has also advised states and private organisations to deploy “a combination of various tests” that would help allaying the fear and anxiety of health care workers, office employees etc.

Private labs in Mumbai that ET spoke to said they were already preparing ground to deploy these antibody tests and were anticipating high demand. “We will start offering these tests soon,” Suburban Labs managing director Sanjay Arora told ET.

TransAsia, a domestic manufacturer of antibody kits, said the company was ready with its ELISA-based antibody kits and was looking at pricing those at Rs 500-1,000.

Though it is talked about as one of the ways to get economic activity off the ground, the WHO does not recommend using the antibody tests or the “immunity certificates” or "passports” in the general population as a way out from the pandemic.

“People who assume that they are immune to a second infection because they have received a positive test result may ignore public health advice. The use of such certificates may therefore increase the risks of continued transmission,” a WHO statement had said.