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Andhra Pradesh begins manufacturing of COVID-19 testing kits

The Andhra Pradesh MedTech Zone will also start producing 3,000 ventilators from April 15, scaling it up to 6,000 per month from May.

coronavirus, coronavirus testing kits, coronavirus testing kits manufacture andhra pradeesh, coronavirus latest updates, Andhra Pradesh MedTech Zone, COVID-19, Indian express Chief Minister Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy inaugurated the production from his office at Amaravati. (File)

Andhra Pradesh started manufacturing COVID-19 testing kits at the Andhra Pradesh MedTech Zone in Visakhapatnam Wednesday. Chief Minister Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy inaugurated the production from his office at Amaravati.

Andhra Pradesh MedTech Zone (AMTZ) is an exclusive Medical Equipment Manufacturing Zone in India. While the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) has approved the manufacturing of kits at AMTZ, the Drug Controller General of India has granted exemption from all manufacturing approvals for ventilators in view of the current crisis.

“The state is proud to announce that the Andhra Pradesh MedTech Zone (AMTZ) has started manufacturing 2,000 testing kits for COVID-19 per day, making the state not only self-sufficient, but also capable of supplying testing kits to the entire country. The capacity will be increased to 25,000 per day,” Dr Rajat Bharghava, Special Chief Secretary, Industries and Commerce Department, said.

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coronavirus, coronavirus testing kits, coronavirus testing kits manufacture andhra pradeesh, coronavirus latest updates, Andhra Pradesh MedTech Zone, COVID-19, Indian express The AMTZ will manufacture 2,000 testing kits for COVID-19 per day. (Express photo)

Further, the AMTZ will start producing 3,000 ventilators from April 15 and gradually scale it up to 6,000 per month from May. Hindustan Lifecare (HLL) will assist in the assembly of the ventilators.

The Centre has already placed an order for 3,500 ventilators and assembling of the units will start from April 15. For this, six companies have been selected in Phase 1.

Festive offer

As a token of support, the Industries and Commerce Department is donating 1,000 COVID-19 kits to the state government. Further, the industries department is also donating 10,000 liters of hand sanitisers, worth Rs 10 lakh, to the government. In addition to the above, APIIC Employees have contributed one-day salary to the tune of Rs 5,04,570 to the CM Relief Fund, Bharghava said.

First uploaded on: 08-04-2020 at 18:03 IST
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