The Union Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs on Tuesday hailed an initiative of Agartala Smart City for designing a mobile COVID19 sample collection kiosk.
“The Agartala Smart City has designed and handed over a mobile COVID19 sample collection kiosk to city’s chief medical officer (CMO),” said officials in the ministry.
“The kiosk ensures protection to the sample collecting doctor & prevents wastage of personal protection equipment (PPE). This initiative is a major step by Agartala in the fight against COVID19,” the ministry added.
Also read: Tripura develops mobile COVID19 sample collection kiosk
Mounting of the kiosk on a three-wheeler vehicle enables it to navigate through narrow lanes & helps collection of samples from community itself.
“There is no need for patients to come to hospital for giving sample. The kiosk also facilitates mass testing of larger number of people in a shorter timeframe,” officials said.
This initiative was taken by the municipal commissioner of Agartala Municipal Corporation (AMC), who is also the chief executive officer (CEO) of Agartala Smart City Limited.
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 Agartala Smart City Ltd, 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.”