An IIT Alumni Council’s initiative – the first Covid19 Test bus was flagged off in Mumbai by Shri Aditya Thackeray, Minister of Tourism & Environment and Shri Rajesh Tope, Heath Minister, Govt of Maharashtra.
The Bus is an initiative by the C19 Taskforce of IIT Alumni Council that was brought to life with support from the Health Department of MCGM, Dr. Muffazal Lakadawala and Krsnaa Diagnostics Private Limited.
The Covid19 pandemic in India is throwing up challenges relating to detecting, preventing and treating the disease. In a country of 1.3 billion people, a pandemic such as this necessitates solutions that are affordable, accurate as well as scalable to millions. In the absence of any proven treatment, there is a desperate need for increased levels of testing, particularly in clusters or containment zones. Covid19 Test Bus facilitates access to affordable and rapid testing to people in dense urban areas whilst at the same time isolating doctors and facilitating large scale testing during the monsoons.
“The IIT Alumni Council has taken a pro-active approach to supporting the Government’s efforts in fighting the Covid 19 challenge. We have acted swiftly and set up the IIT C19 Task Force to channelize the energies of the global IIT Alumni for this fight. The Covid 19 Test Bus is based on indigenous technology and to the best of our knowledge, is the first vehicle of its kind in the world with onboard genetic testing, AI based teleradiology and contactless sample collection. We chose Mumbai as the launch location given the relatively high number of cases in the city”, said Ravi Sharma, President, IIT Alumni Council.
