No China Import, India To Locally Manufacture COVID-19 Swabs

On May 12, PM Narendra Modi addresses the country’s ongoing battle against the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Besides a Rs 20 lakh crore financial stimulus package for the economy of the nation, the PM also encouraged people to use locally produced products.

India has now started making its own collection swabs that are used for COVID-19 testing, which is immensely beneficial.

In a recent tweet, Varun Jhaveri from the National Health Authority has highlighted this profit. Indigenous manufacturing of collection swabs has drastically lowered the cost of these swabs.

Earlier, India had to import these swabs from China for Rs 17 per piece. But now, the country’s government has enabled a local production of the product by working with the largest Indian polyester manufacturer.

Once the design and the material used for the collection swab receive the approval from the National Institue of Virology in Pune, MSMEs will be in charge of manufacturing these swabs. Compared to imported swabs which cost Rs 17 per piece, the one from India manufacturers only costs Rs 2.

The difference in the cost is huge and will positively influence the country's efforts to deal with the spread of COVID-19.

India has long been accused of conducting too minimal tests, which is why the country há such a low infected count.

As the nation is ramping up testing, the local availability of COVID-19 testing kits along with its components at a cheaper cost is a huge benefit.

The National Institute of Virology has successfully developed the country’s first indigenous anti-COVID-19 test kit to detect the antibody of the virus.

Zydus Cadila has received the technology for the kit’s development and will be in charge of a mass-scale production. It is potential that the locally produced collection swabs are being used for these kits.

On April 6, India set up its first walk-in COVID-19 testing booths in Kerala. These contact-free kiosks will help protect the safety of the workers. The WISK (Walk-In Sample Kiosk) was a design by a team led by Dr. Ganesh Mohan, Kalamassery Medical College’s RMO.

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