{"id":14163,"date":"2020-06-08T10:37:00","date_gmt":"2020-06-08T10:37:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/yourchennai.com\/?p=14163"},"modified":"2020-06-08T10:42:57","modified_gmt":"2020-06-08T10:42:57","slug":"tulips-covid-19-swabs-to-boost-affordable-testing","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/yourchennai.com\/index.php\/2020\/06\/08\/tulips-covid-19-swabs-to-boost-affordable-testing\/","title":{"rendered":"TULIP’s Covid-19 swabs to boost affordable testing"},"content":{"rendered":"
<\/div>

Low-cost swabs for coronavirus testing vital to tackle the global pandemic<\/b><\/i><\/span><\/p>\n

Dr MGR Medical University predict 1.5 lakh COVID cases in Chennai by mid-July<\/b><\/i><\/span><\/p>\n

With an alarming rises of positive cases in Chennai, <\/span><\/span>Tulips<\/span><\/a><\/u><\/span>, India\u2019s leading personal hygiene consumer product innovator<\/span><\/span> <\/b>today announced that it is producing <\/span><\/span>over 5 million \u2018<\/span><\/span>made-<\/span><\/span>in-India\u2019, affordable COVID-19 SWABS per week <\/span><\/span>to help the nation ramp up testing. The cost of these high-quality swabs is almost one tenth of the imported swabs.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

As India tries to open up and revive the economy, testing is vital for tackling Coronavirus in India. This is important as epidemiologists at Tamil Nadu *Dr MGR Medical University predict <\/span>1.5 lakh COVID cases in Chennai<\/b><\/span><\/u><\/span> <\/b>by mid-July, using mathematical modelling.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

To meet the country\u2019s need for COVID-19 tests, <\/span><\/span>Tulips<\/span><\/a><\/u><\/span> has converted its production lines and reconfigured equipment, of some of its manufacturing capabilities. The company has the largest installed capacity of Cotton buds in Asia and possesses capability of taking the COVID-19 swab production to over 30 million swabs per week, if required in due course.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Significantly, in past 19 days, COVID cases in Tamil Nadu jumped from 10,000 to 27,256. The city has 9,066 active cases, and reported 1,072 cases. Of the total cases reported in Tamil Nadu since March 7, 18,693 cases were from Chennai.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Tulips<\/a><\/span><\/u><\/span> supplied more than 7 million swabs to major VTM kit producers, in all parts of the country. Almost all the states have started using low cost Indian Swabs, as these have helped the states to cut their Test Kit costs by almost 40 – 60%.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

The intent is to make the state self-reliant in nasal and throat swabs, critical in fighting COVID-19 war <\/span><\/span>and rely less on supplies from other countries, in these testing times. With rising number of COVID-19 cases, the company shifted focus to affordable swabs, as domestically produced swabs would cost one-tenth the imported swabs.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Though the recovery percent in the state is more than 50% of the total cases, the addition of the new cases is a reminder that the demand for the testing swabs. With a steady inflow of migrants from Maharashtra, Delhi, Karnataka, AP and Kerala who have tested positive. <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

The state has not increased its testing capacity for the past few weeks now and it still continues to test only 10,500 to 12,000 individuals in a day. According to the experts, Tamil Nadu needs to ramp-up its testing capabilities considerably to contain the spread of the virus.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Key features of the highly specialized TULIPS swabs are:<\/span><\/span> <\/b><\/i><\/p>\n