Minister for Revenue K. K. S. S. R. Ramachandran and Minister for Industries Thangam Thennarasu, on Saturday inaugurated a new RT-PCR machine at Virudhunagar Government Medical College Hospital.
The new machine has been sponsored by UNICEF and ICMR at a cost of ₹20 lakh. Virudhunagar Collector J. Meghanath Reddy and Medical College Dean J. Sangumani, were present.
The Dean said that Virudhunagar district had the capacity to test 3,000 samples in a day. “With the additional RT-PCR machine, the district can test another 1,000 swab samples. Hence, the district need not send samples to other districts or private labs. We can avoid delay in getting swab sample results," Dr Sangumani said.
The hospital also formally launched a new service for people who give their swab samples for COVID-19 tests.
Whenever people give their samples for testing, a link will be sent in the form of SMS to the mobile number of the particular person. People can know their test result through the link by using their standard reference number, he said.
Additional oxygen production
Meanwhile, the Ministers inaugurated an additional oxygen production unit at Ramco Cements factory premises on Saturday.
Already the factory has got a generator supplying 48 oxygen cylinders to government hospitals.
With the new facility installed at a cost of ₹85 lakh, Ramco Cements can supply 195 cylinders to the government hospitals.
The Ministers said that the district administration has augmented oxygen production in the districts by installing new oxygen generators at different places.
MLAs A. R. R. Seenivasan, S. Thangapandiyan, G. Ashokan and A. R. Raghuraman were present.