The outbreak of COVID-19 pandemic has unleashed the bundle of troubles for the people in the country.Amidst this difficult situation, the Indian Institutes of Technology (IIT) alumni council launched a COVID-19 test bus in Mumbai to carry out affordable and rapid testing in the dense urban areas of the city.
The bus is an initiative by the C19 Taskforce of IIT Alumni Council, in support with the Health Department of MCGM, Dr Muffazal Lakadawala (Chief Medical Officer and Mission Director at NSCI) and Krsnaa Diagnostics.
As per information, COVID-19 test bus facilitates access to affordable and rapid testing to people in dense urban areas whilst isolating doctors and also does large scale testing during the monsoons.
In a country of 1.3 billion people, a pandemic such as this necessitates solutions that are affordable, accurate as well as scalable to millions. In the absence of any proven treatment, there is a desperate need for increased levels of testing, particularly in clusters or containment zones.
The IIT C19 Test Bus is based on the indigenous Kodoy Technology Stack and executed by partner organisations led by IIT alumni. The Kodoy architecture involves e-vehicles for sample selection and telemedicine, algorithm-based pooled genetic testing and indigenous megalabs capable of upto 5 million tests per month per lab.
The medical equipment on board comprises a low dosage digital Xray, real time teleradiology, contactless swab collection and instant RNA testing. The bus has been configured keeping for heavy rains and has 384 sqft of lab space onboard.