VITEBSK, 7 April (BelTA) – The Vitebsk-based R&D enterprise OOO SIVital launched the production of coronavirus test kits on 7 April, BelTA has learned.
A team of researchers led by Professor of Vitebsk State Medical University, Doctor of Medical Sciences Valery Semenov developed a test kit to diagnose the novel coronavirus. The Belarusian Healthcare Ministry promptly certified the solution and granted clearance to start its production.
“In view of the current situation, we put on hold our main projects and developed a coronavirus test kit. The virus is quite complicated,” Valery Semenov noted. According to him, the main task is to satisfy the demand of Vitebsk Oblast and then the whole country. “Our test kit detects the virus in 45 minutes. The amplification itself lasts for 1.5 hours, but it is possible to carry out 96 tests simultaneously,” the professor noted.
The company will produce 100,000 test kits in the next ten days and plans to boost the output in the future.
There are three specialized laboratories in Vitebsk Oblast that can use test kits to diagnose the virus.