Pune-Based Lab Develops India’s Own Affordable Coronavirus Test Kits
A lockdown has been imposed on India to tackle the situation created by Coronavirus pandemic. The lockdown will continue for 21 days and could be extended if the situation arises. As of now, the number of confirmed Coronavirus cases in India has crossed 600 and the number is increasing on a daily basis.
However, it has been speculated that the number of confirmed cases in India is low due to a less number of Coronavirus tests conducted by the government. While WHO has asked all the countries to increase the pace of testing patients, India is only testing symptomatic patients who have returned from foreign countries. asymptomatic patients coming from abroad have been asked to self-isolate.
Indian Coronavirus Test Kits
AS per Vice’s report, Coronavirus tests in India are primarily dependent on equipment from foreign companies. But, as of now, Government has introduced private testing facilities with Maylabs solution. Maylabs solution is a Pune-based first private lab to create cheap and efficient homegrown tests.
Maharashtra: Pune based Mylab Discovery Solutions Pvt Ltd has developed India's first indigenous #COVID19 testing kit that has been approved by the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR). A single kit costs Rs 80,000 & can test 100 patients. pic.twitter.com/Ng5b3wRHh5
— ANI (@ANI) March 24, 2020
The Maylabs testing kits have been created in a record time of six weeks. The testing kits by Maylabs will be available at one-fourth cost of the current price of testing kits in India that is Rs 4,500 per kit. The company has a testing capacity of 15000 patients in a week, which will soon increase to 25,000 tests. It is also said that the Maylabs test kits will take two and a half hours to complete a test that consumes 6 to 8 hours currently.
Several other labs based in India have sent an application to the National Institute of Virology (NIV), Pune, to get their testing kits approved. Previously, the governments asked other private companies to jump in test kits production on a mass level due to the increasing number of patients.
Three-wheeled Robots to assist infected people
Another significant development to tackle COVID-19 incudes a three-wheeled robot that can assist patients with confirmed COVID-19 in the isolation wards. These robots, developed by Kochi-based Asimov robotics, can easily help patients with food and medicines. This invention is going to reduce the risk which the doctors and nurses were taking while assisting an infected patient.
