India with now being ranked among the 5 worst affected countries around the world battling #coronavirus and  on one hand trying to get the grip on how to stop the looming threat of #communityspread in India of #covid19 virus

On the other hand trying to improve and increase number of RT PCR tests which till date are considered the most accurate method to test patients for #covid_19 , Indian researchers are also working in overdrive mode to develop tests which can be more efficient, accurate and cost effective than rt pcr test

However RT PCR test is the most widely used test (definition & full form of RT pcr test is : Reverse Transcription Polymerase Chain Reaction) and World Health Organization & ICMR consider it to be the gold standard of corona virus testing 

RT PCR amplifies DNA, multiplying genetic material into large enough quantities to analyse , the process requires nasal swab sample  is put into PCR machine which through usage of its cycles of heating & cooling to help reagents amplify the target DNA into millions of copies, afterwards A fluorescent dye is added m which glows if the patient result show positive , In lab conditions the results thrown by PCR machines are 100% accurate 

The entire process takes about 24-72 hours (from sample collection to results)  as operating the PCR machines is expensive and labs generally wait to test large batches at one to minimize their costs and remain competitive 

Though researchers around the world are trying to launch alternative and more efficient tests (such as CT Scans, Loop- Mediated isothermal amplification (LAMP) , Antibody tests like Enzyme -linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) is highly sophisticated but not widely available around the world yet, Antigen tests can detect positive cases in minutes  (1st antigen kit in India approved by ICMR on 15 June, 2020) & Gene Editing like CRISPR can improve testing by identifying genetic sequences belonging to the virus in samples in minutes 

The real test is to scale up testing which despite having reached 3 lakhs test per day capacity, on 17 June only 1.65 lakhs tests were carried out across the country and till date 6.2 million people have been tested 

Though what remains worrisome for the medical authorities is the poor percentage of Tests Rate (Tests carried out per 1000 people) which remains at 4.3 in India , in comparison USA is testing 71.8  People, UK 59.4, Spain 65,4 & Russian 105.5 (sources Journal of Pharmaceutical Analysis Clinical Chemistry & Journal of Molecular Diagnostics )    

Benefits of testing more people will lead to large identification of asymptomatic persons carrying the virus ans stop the spread of corona virus plus can also significantly being down the cost of RT  PCR Tests