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Russia registers new COVID-19 test system

The producer informed that the test kits meet all the requirements of the World Health Organization and the Russian Health Ministry

MOSCOW, April 3. /TASS/. Russia has registered a new test system for detecting the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) produced by the Russian company DNA Technology, the Russian Ministry of Industry and Trade reported on Friday.

"Russian company DNA Technology producing equipment and reagent kits for polymerase chain reaction research has registered a new test system for detecting the novel coronavirus COVID-19 with support of the Russian Ministry of Industry and Trade," the message runs.

The company’s website informs that the test kits meet all the requirements of the World Health Organization and the Russian Health Ministry. Starting April 3, 200-400 kits will be produced daily, and in the future, the company plans to make up to 1,000 kits a day. Each kit allows to carry out 96 tests.

In late December 2019, Chinese officials notified the World Health Organization (WHO) about the outbreak of a previously unknown pneumonia in the city of Wuhan, in central China. Since then, cases of the novel coronavirus — named COVID-19 by the WHO — have been reported in every corner of the globe, including Russia.

On March 11, 2020, the WHO declared the coronavirus outbreak a pandemic. To date, more than 1,000,000 people have been infected worldwide and over 53,000 deaths have been reported. That said, over 213,000 individuals have recovered from the illness across the globe.

So far, a total of 4,149 coronavirus cases have been confirmed in Russia, with 281 patients having recovered from the virus. The country’s latest data indicates 34 fatalities nationwide. Earlier, the Russian government set up an Internet hotline to keep the public updated on the coronavirus situation.