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Coronavirus pandemic

Moscow mayor seeks to conduct up to 100,000 coronavirus antibody tests daily

He said that for the past two weeks, the capital has been testing the new system, installing equipment

© Vladimir Gerdo/TASS

MOSCOW, May 14./TASS/. Moscow’s municipal authorities plan to step up the number of enzyme immunoassay (EIA) antibody tests to 100,000 a day. In the future, the number of these antibody tests carried out in Moscow may climb to 200,000 a day, Moscow Mayor Sergey Sobyanin said Thursday.

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"Today, we are facing the next task: achieving a new level of quality and the number of testing through the use of EIA systems. Moscow has a technical opportunity to boost these EIA tests to 100,000 a day," Sobyanin told a meeting with members of the Moscow clinical committee for the novel coronavirus. Subsequently, up to 200,000 tests can be conducted in Moscow daily, he added.

"Moscow is already the leader among the world’s cities with regards to the number of tests. A mass introduction of the enzyme immunoassay (EIA) tests will make Moscow the paramount leader in this respect," Sobyanin stressed.

He said that for the past two weeks, the capital has been testing the new system, installing equipment. "This week, we are beginning to put this program into practice. As early as this week, 30 of the city’s outpatient clinics will begin taking blood samples for screening research. Up to 70,000 Muscovites will be invited to outpatient clinics for EIA testing weekly," he explained.

He also added that the city would also be working on PCR testing for COVID-19.

The mayor noted that these EIA tests would be carried out at the city enterprises and organizations that must regularly check their staff for coronavirus. This, first of all, refers to medical establishments, municipal housing and utilities services and transport, as well as law enforcement agencies.

The mayor emphasized that an agreement had been reached with Moscow Regional Governor Andrey Vorobyov to launch EIA diagnostic tools in the region. "Our task is not to conceal anything, not to mix these processes, but on the contrary, to quickly and efficiently as possible detect people who were infected with coronavirus and those who had the disease and are now immune to coronavirus," the mayor specified.

This will help determine the tactics and strategy of Moscow’s healthcare system in order to adequately make decisions related to restrictive measures in Moscow.

The program that is being launched in Moscow envisages mass screening of city residents for antibodies to the novel coronavirus.

To date, a total of 252,245 coronavirus cases have been confirmed in Russia, with 53,530 patients having recovered from the virus. Russia’s latest data indicates 2,305 fatalities nationwide. Earlier, the Russian government set up an Internet hotline to keep the public updated on the coronavirus situation.

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