Covid report in 6 minutes: Fast testing machine set up at Punjab hospital
Premium- ‘ID Now’ machine will provide results within six to thirteen minutes with the capacity to conduct 30 tests a day
Punjab Health and Family Welfare Minister Balbir Singh Sidhu on Friday inaugurated the Covid Fast Testing Machine (ID Now) at District Hospital SAS Nagar. This machine was donated by PATH, a US-based non-profit organization.
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Sharing information about the machine, the minister said that ‘ID Now’ machine "provides results within six to thirteen minutes with the capacity to conduct 30 tests a day". He said that this will be helpful for testing emergency and IPD samples. "This is a major boon at a time when there is high demand for testing of critical patients," he said.
The minister further said that the machine is portable and a first of its kind RT-PCR-based which can easily be taken to villages for testing. The machine will also be very helpful in conducting tests in micro containment zones.
Besides this, a unique point-of-care testing system called Abbott ID Now is installed at District Hospital, Mohali, the state government informed. This technology, it said, is aimed at reducing the time taken to receive test results.
On Friday, Punjab reported 3706 fresh infection cases and 6797 recoveries. So far, the state has reported 5.59 lakh cases while recovery number stands at over 5 lakh. Currently, the state has 44964 active cases while 14,180 people have lost their lives due to Covid.
The Punjab government has extended the lockdown in the state till 10 June. However, in view of the decline in positive as well as active cases, the restriction on the number of passengers in personal vehicles has been removed. Earlier the Punjab government had said that not more than two persons can travel in a car.
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