COVID-19: Walk-in kiosks for faster, cheaper sample collection created in Ernakulam

Kochi: The Ernakulam district administration has built walk-in sample kiosks for COVID-19 tests. Two kiosks built under the leadership of Ernakulam Medical College RMO Dr. Ganesh Mohan following directions from the district administration and health department were handed over today.

Using the kiosks, which can be transported easily, health officials can collect COVID-19 samples without having to wear protection kits. Using the kiosk, a COVID-19 sample can be collected in just two minutes.

The kiosk looks similar to the old telephone booth. The health official will stay inside the kiosk while the person whose sample needs to be collected will sit in the chair placed outside. Using the gloves set up as protruding out from the kiosk, the health official will be able to collect samples from the mouth of the suspected individual. The sample can easily be kept in a special container.  

The disinfected kiosks have magnetic doors, exhaust fans and ultraviolet light to ensure safety of sample givers and collectors. After collecting each sample, the gloves and chair will be disinfected.

The PPE kits being used at present costs around Rs 1,000 and can be used only once. Many countries are facing a shortage of such PPE kits.

The walk-in kiosks will help reduce the number of PPE kits. In case of social spread, these kiosks can be brought to that area and many samples can be collected in a short span.

“The present kiosk model is based on the ones used in South Korea. This could be the first time that such kiosks are being used in India. It costs Rs 40,000 to build one walk-in kiosk.

Dr. Mahesh Kumar said that under the leadership of the Ernakulam district administration, the Kalamassery Medical College will be at the forefront of developing such indigenous technology to prevent COVID-19.

District medical officer Dr. N. K. Kuttappan said that more and more individuals and organisations have come forward to establish walk-in kiosks at more spots in Ernakulam.