Page 53 - COVID Newsletter 11 June

As COVID 19 continues to wreak havoc across the rural heartlands of India, it has become critical to drive rapid testing, contact tracing, and create dedicated containment zones. At a time when such tests take more than a week in some cities, the challenge is even more for rural areas. Easy alternative tests are necessary as RT-PCR tests also give a ‘false negative’ for some variants.
ARTPARK (AI & Robotics Technology Park), a not-for-profit foundation established by the Indian Institute of Science (IISc), Bangalore, with support from the Department of Science
& Technology (DST), Government of India, in collaboration with Bengaluru-based Health- Tech start-up Niramai and the Indian Institute of Science (IISc), has developed XraySetu. It is specifically designed to identify COVID-positive patients even from low resolution chest X-ray images sent over WhatsApp.
Website link:
https://dst.gov.in/new-ai-driven-platform-will-facilitate-early-covid-interventions- over-whatsapp
Technology-based start-ups played crucial role in converting India
from importer to second largest manufacturer of PPEs
A range of low cost innovative technologies developed and scaled up by start-ups from different corners of the country played a crucial role in India’s emergence as the second largest Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) manufacturer in the world in response to the battle against COVID-19.
PPEs like masks and face shields, especially those used by medical professionals as protection from infection as they tackle the health emergency, are crucial shield in the battle against COVID-19. India had been importing PPEs at the start of the pandemic period, but a range of technologies like affordable mask making machines, low cost masks, reusable anti-viral and anti-bacterial masks, safety masks specifically designed for health workers by start-ups, etc. helped the country to turn the tables and start exporting them.
VOL. IV ISSUE 4
VIGYAN PRASAR 49
NATION’S S&T EFFORTS AGAINST COVID-19