In a tweet, Health minister Pangnyu said he was delighted to inform that the first batch of TrueNat (by Molbio diagnostics Pvt Ltd Goa) machine was installed at District Hospital, Dimapur (designated COVID-19 hospital). He said the department will be installing in other districts as well.
What is TrueNat test
The Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) had recommended the use of the Truenat beta CoV test as a screening test for COVID-19 on 4th April 2020.
ICMR mentions that Truenat beta CoV test should only be performed with all biosafety precautions in BSL-2 or BSL-3 setups at designated laboratories.
The test — called the Truenat Beta CoV test — effectively enables same-day testing, reporting, and patient isolation initiation (if required). Officials say this is one of the few ICMR-approved tests to have been validated in a short period of time. Its battery-operated kits are the size of a telephone and can be taken out into the field to test as many as 15 individuals a day. They range between Rs. 6.5 lakh and Rs. 12 lakh and have received both government and ICMR approval.