Harsh Vardhan dedicated COBAS 6800 testing machine

Union Minister of Health & Family Welfare visited the National Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) and dedicated the COBAS 6800 testing machine to the nation.

This is the first such testing machine that has been procured by the Government for testing of COVID-19 cases and is installed at the National Centre for Disease Control.

COBAS 6800 is a fully automated, high-end machine that performs real-time PCR testing COVID-19 in the service of the nation.

The device will provide high quality, high-volume testing with a high throughput of around 1200 samples in 24 hours. It will largely increase the testing capacity with the reduction in pendency.

The machine is enabled with robotics that will minimize the chance of contamination and the risk of infection to the health care workers as it can be operated remotely with limited human intervention.

The machine requires a minimum BSL2+ containment level for testing and hence it cannot be placed at just any facility.

COBAS 6800 can also detect other pathogens like HIV, Papilloma, CMV, Chlamydia, Viral Hepatitis B & C, MTb (both rifampicin and isoniazide resistance), Neiserreia, etc.

GoI has developed the capacity to conduct 1,00,000 tests per day. As of 14 May, nearly 20 lakh tests for COVID-19 have been tested in India at more than 500 laboratories including 359 Government laboratories and 145 private laboratories in the country.