The first batch of 7,500 SARS-CoV-2 test kits produced in Vietnam will be shipped to Ukraine and Finland this week.
The kit uses a real-time Polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) technique developed by the Military Medical Academy and Viet A Corporation, a media report noted.
The Director of Viet A Corporation, Phan Quoc Viet, said that the company has produced the test kit on a mass scale of 5,000 test kits in the past week. These products are used in tandem with the biological kits produced by the US CDC and WHO at testing facilities which have brought about positive results.
He noted that the company can produce up to 30,000 test kits per day.
More than 10 countries including Belgium, Australia, Poland, Ukraine, Finland, Nigeria, South Africa, Cambodia, Turkey, Ireland, Germany, and Italy have asked to buy the kit.
This week, the company will ship the first batch of 50 kits (2,500 tests) to Ukraine and 100 kits (5,000 tests) to Finland.
Hanoi has also ordered 4,000 test kits (200,000 tests) to use in the city and to give to hospitals in Italy, which have been seriously hit by the COVID-19 epidemic.
According to the producer, each test kit consists of 50 tests and each test is used for a single person. The timescale for results including the preparation time for the specimen is two hours.
Most COVID-19 infected cases show no symptoms or very mild symptoms, and these cases need screening tests, the Vietnamese government noted earlier. If Vietnam has rapid screening kits, the disease screening can be implemented widely in the community, helping to reduce isolation pressure and cost.
Based on the initial screening test, infected cases will be accurately re-diagnosed through diagnostic kits performed in the laboratory.
Domestic scientists should order robot manufacturing enterprises to produce robots to assist doctors in medical examinations and treatment amid dangerous conditions and limited manpower. Robots can help with tasks such as cleaning, disinfecting patient rooms, measuring temperature, and delivering food and medicines to patients amongst others.
The country also recently developed a mobile disinfection chamber for people in affected areas. The chamber will prevent and limit the spread of infectious diseases, especially in the current situation of COVID-19 pandemic.
It automatically activates the disinfection spraying process once a person steps in.
It only takes 30 seconds to complete a round of disinfection in each chamber. It is estimated that each chamber can disinfect up to 1,000 people per day.
Chambers plan to be installed in areas at high risk of COVID-19 infections such as quarantine areas containing people infected with COVID-19, as well as crowded areas like hospitals, supermarkets, railway and bus stations, airports, offices, and schools.
As OpenGov reported earlier, three mobile disinfection chambers will be set up at the HCM City Youth Cultural House in District 1, HCM City Traditional Medicine Institute in Phu Nhuan district, and the Saigon Union of Trading Co-operatives (Saigon Co.op) in District 1.
The chamber can be easily installed, uninstalled, and transported. It uses a 360-degree fog mist sprayer using an anolyte solution, which is a powerful disinfectant against bacteria and viruses.