Bengal imports 8 Cobas machines to test a lakh COVID-19 samples a day
There has been a huge surge in Coronavirus cases pan India and West Bengal government is trying to increase the number of tests to successfully identify and isolate COVID-19 patients. Only one COVID-19 testing laboratory was functioning in the initial days of the outbreak of the disease. Later, 16 testing laboratories were added. It is common knowledge that more number of testing will ensure a low mortality rate and breaking the chain. And to help this, the state government is procuring ultra-modern testing machines called COBAS, from Sweden and 8 machines will reach by ship this month itself.
During a discussion with Indian Council for Medical Research (ICMR) last month, the need to test at least a thousand patients per day was mooted. Within a month of that meeting, the state government is all set to achieve this goal and push up the testing to almost a lakh per day! It is vital to quickly and reliably detect whether a patient is infected with SARS-CoV-2 to proceed with the right line of treatment. The state government is importing fully automated Cobas Kit Machine that provides quality, high-volume testing capabilities allowing physicians to respond to the pandemic fast.
Preliminary the 8 machines that Bengal government is procuring will be installed in selected laboratories of Kolkata and North Bengal where number of cases are increasing by the day. According to government officials, West Bengal is the first state in the country to strengthen the fight against COVID-19 with the help of the Cobas automatic machines. Although 52 government laboratories from all over the country have placed orders for the kit, West Bengal is the first state to get it. Each machine costs Rs 2 lakh and technicians have already had workshops to learn how to use this machine. Hopefully by this month end West Bengal will be in a position to do a lakh COVID-19 tests a day! That’s huge and only that will help beat the deadly virus.
