Gonoshasthaya kit not effective to detect coronavirus: BSMMU VC

Gonoshasthaya Kendra’s COVID-19 testing Rapid Dot Blot kit is not effective to detect the virus, Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Medical University (BSMMU) Vice-Chancellor Prof Dr Kanak Kanti Barua said today.

He made the disclosure at a press briefing held at the university’s Milton Hall on Wednesday.

Earlier this morning, a performance committee headed by Prof Shahina Tabassum submitted a report on the kit to the VC.

On March 17, Gonoshasthaya announced that they developed a testing kit that could examine samples to detect Covid-19 within 15 minutes, but the kit was still not approved by the authorities concerned.

The DGDA on April 30 permitted Gonoshasthaya to get its kits tested. The DGDA informed Gonoshasthaya that the performance study of the kits could be done either at the BSMMU or IEDCR.