Andhra Pradesh starts making rapid Covid-19 testing kits

Hyderabad: Andhra Pradesh has started manufacturing Covid-19 rapid testing kits that can offer results in less than an hour.
The facility is also expected to start making ventilators from April 15, increasing the capacity in phases to 6,000 units per month.

The unit at AP MedTech Zone in Visakhapatnam can produce 2,000 testing kits a day, the state government said on Wednesday. This capacity may be ramped up to 25,000 kits a day soon.

The Indian Council of Medical Research had approved the manufacture of the testing kits at the AMTZ while the Drug Controller General of India granted exemption from manufacturing approvals for ventilators in view of the current crisis, the state government said in a statement.

“By May, 7.5 lakh kits will be manufactured and delivered to other states as well,” AP industries minister Mekapati Goutham Reddy said.