On Wednesday, COVID-19 testing kits manufactured in the MedTech Zone of Visakhapatnam got launched by Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy.
Being a unique medical equipment manufacturing zone, the Andhra Pradesh MedTech Zone(AMTZ) has now taken lead during the COVID-19 pandemic.
The kits approved by the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) will be manufactured by AMTZ. The Drug Controller General of India (DCGI) has excluded ventilators from any kind of approvals for manufacturing.
2000 testing kits will be manufactured by AMTZ every day to supply to the entire country.
To fulfill the growing demand in the country as the number of coronavirus cases keeps rising in India, AMTZ is planning to increase the manufacturing capacity to 25,000 kits per day.
From April 15, the AMTZ will start manufacturing 3,000 ventilators and will increase the manufacturing capacity to 6,000 by May.
In the assembly of ventilators, Hindustan Lifecare (HLL), a state-owned healthcare company will assist AMTZ.
The manufacturing process of ventilators will start on April 15 and the centre has already placed an order for 3,500 ventilators. For this purpose, six companies have been established in Phase-1.
As a token of
support, 1,000 COVID-19 test kits will be donated by the Industries and Commerce Department to the government. 10,000 liters of hand sanitizers worth Rs 10 lakh was further decided by the Industries Department to donate to the government.Minister for Industries Gowtham Reddy said, “We are right now manufacturing 2000 kits per day. It will be scaled up to 25,000 units per day, once we get the laser welding equipment. Starting from the 15th of April, for the first time in India, we will also be producing ventilators.” AMTZ will begin manufacturing 3000 ventilators a month along with the COVID-19 testing kits, which will later be increased to 5000 a month.
329 people have been tested positive for the novel coronavirus in the state with 4 deaths registered.
