<span style="color: #222222;">Indian Council of Medical Research, ICMR has invited applications for validation of rapid antigen detection test for COVID-19 from all manufacturers who have developed such test.</span><br />'' <br />''<span style="color: #222222;">ICMR has identified seven medical and research institutes for validation of the rapid point-of-care antigen detection tests for COVID-19. These institutes are AIIMS, Delhi, SMS Medical College, Jaipur, King George Medical University, Lucknow, Kasturba Hospital for Infectious Diseases, Mumbai, Post Graduate Institute of Medical Education & Research, Chandigarh, Jawaharlal Institute of Postgraduate Medical Education & Research, Puducherry and National Institute of Virology, Kerala Unit, Alappuzha. A minimum of 300 rapid antigen tests would be required for each validation.</span><br />'' <br />'' <span style="color: #222222;">The step has been taken in view of the upsurge in the cases of Covid-19 due to phased relaxation in lockdown. Scaling up of testing capacity to the maximum possible levels is required to deal with the present crisis.</span><br />'' <br />'' <span style="color: #222222;">Earlier, ICMR has recommended the use of rapid antigen test kits for diagnosis of COVID-19 in containment zones and healthcare settings in combination with the RT-PCR test.</span><br />''