Tripura gets first mobile Covid-19 testing van in Northeast

The contraption was designed and provided by Agartala Municipal Corporation Smart City Project 

Tripura got its first mobile Covid-19 testing van, arguably the first-of-its-kind in the northeast region so far. The vehicle – essentially a three-wheeler, heavy-duty auto with a Covid-19 testing kiosk mounted on it – was conceived from the Kerala model of testing where stationary testing kiosks are placed in front of hospitals.

According to an Indian Express report by Debraj Deb from Agartala, through the mobile kiosk, medical experts can collect swab samples from inside a glass encasement, thereby negating the chances of having any physical exposure to the virus. The contraption was designed and provided by Agartala Municipal Corporation (AMC) Smart City Project and it took barely a lakh to be made.

AMC Commissioner Dr Sailesh Kumar Yadav said the device is expected to cancel the necessity of using new PPE kits every time samples are collected during random testing. He said since there is no Covid-19 patient in any Tripura hospital anymore, the municipal corporation decided to adopt the mobile testing vehicle model.