Coronavirus: Kerala hospital develops walk-in kiosk for safer sample collection
The idea behind the kiosk is to safely collect samples of patients, suspected of contracting the novel coronavirus, in the absence of personal protective equipment (PPEs).
P S Gopikrishnan Unnithan
Ernakulam
April 6, 2020
UPDATED: April 6, 2020 13:49 IST
The kiosk will help medical professionals conduct Covid-19 tests on people without coming in close contact with them.
A Kerala hospital has developed a walk-in sample Kiosk for safer sample collection in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic.
The idea behind the kiosk is to safely collect samples of patients, suspected of contracting the novel coronavirus, in the absence of personal protective equipment (PPEs).
It is worth mentioning that there is a marked shortage of PPEs at medical institutions in some parts of the country.
The Government Medical College in Kalamassery, Ernakulam has developed a kiosk that allows easier sample collection. The kiosk, which is almost fully sealed, has two openings in the front with a hand glove attached to it.
The health staff designated to collect the samples can stand inside this kiosk and collect the throat swabs without directly exposing themselves. The exposed portion of the hand gloves needs to be sanitised after someone uses it.
This kiosk can be easily set up in any region and will help faster sample collections I areas where community transmission is suspected.
However, the samples are usually collected in designated hospitals in a controlled environment.
All medical health staff are also required to wear all recommended PPEs, which costs around Rs 1,000 per kit and can be used only once.
The state health department has adapted this model from South Korea in order to tackle the shortage of PPEs
https://www.indiatoday.in/india/sto...or-safer-sample-collection-1663857-2020-04-06.
