Agartala Municipal Corporation (AMC) with Agartala Smart City developed a mobile COVID19 sample collection kiosk.
A three-wheeler heavy-duty auto rickshaw has been turned into a kiosk where medical staff can collect swab samples without coming into physical contact with patients.
On Monday, the Agartala Municipal Council (AMC) handed over the kiosk to the health department of Tripura.
Dr. Shailesh Kumar Yadav, commissioner of AMC and CEO of Smart City, told the media that AMC has built the kiosk taking a cue from Kerala model of testing where stationary testing kiosks are placed in front of the hospitals.
Through the kiosk, collection of samples for COVID19 test was started from Monday evening.
The health department placed the kiosk at the market areas in Agartala and started collecting samples.
Sub-divisional magistrate (Sadar) Asim Saha said they will collect samples from the markets where maximum numbers of people gather.
Saha said, “Today, the main markets of Agartala were targeted for formal screening and to check the status of the COVID19 pandemic and to introduce new practices.”
Dr Sailesh Yadav said, “The kiosk ensures protection of the sample collecting doctors and prevents wastage of PPEs.”
“This also facilitates mass testing of a larger number of people in a short time,” said Sr Yadav.
He also informed that two more such kiosks are getting ready.
Dr Yadav said it is very useful for the narrow roads of a city as it can move anywhere.
He said, “It costs a little more than Rs.3.5 lakh to make one such unit.”
This is the first of its kind COVID19 sample collection facility on wheels.