Coronavirus testing bus launched in Mumbai - first of its kind in the world!

Enterprises around the world have been engaging in coming up with innovations that aid in the fight against the coronavirus pandemic and the Pune-based firm, Krsnaa Diagnostics, an investee company of Classic Legends, the manufacturer of Jawa Motorcycles, has now developed India's first COVID-19 testing bus, which is said to soon increase testing for the infection in Maharashtra. This latest testing facility is a collaboration between the IIT Alumni council, the Brihanmumbai Municipal corporation (BMC) and Krsnaa Diagnostics.

With testing using the bus already underway in several parts of Mumbai, it will travel next to other parts of the state to identify suspected COVID-19 infection carriers. Inside the bus, the modes of testing that are included are on-board genetic testing, AI-based teleradiology and contactless RT-PCR swab collection. The manufacturers have stated that the cost for testing will be reduced up to 80% and the bus will also increase the testing capacity by 100 times in the next 100 days. As of now, approximately 10-15 samples are tested every hour with the bus subsequently being disinfected after the collection of every single sample.

The COVID-19 test bus has come in handy for carrying out mass screening and rapid testing in areas that are densely populated and that too at pocket-friendly costs. Said to be a first-of-its-kind initiative in the world, the forthcoming monsoon season has been taken into account while designing the bus, which in its initial phase is being used for testing purposes on corona warriors like the police force, sanitation workers and people engaged in delivering essential services.