Guwahati: Manipur government has been planning to launch a mobile COVID 19 testing kit soon to boost up its testing ration in the state. The government believed that by introducing the kit it would reduce the time of collection and testing of the swab samples affectively.

Manipur health & family welfare minister Langpoklakpam Jayantakumar said that the mobile testing facility would be highly effective in the remote hill areas in the neighbouring state.

Manipur currently has a capacity to test 1,000 samples daily which is believed to be insufficient owing to the incoming of hundreds of stranded people into the state following the opening of inter-state transportation of migrant workers.

 “The state cabinet decided to recruit 300 doctors shortly. The pending recruitment of 106 staff nurses under the National Health Mission will also be finalized at the earliest,” the minister added. He was speaking at a gathering at Senapati district headquarters after visiting some quarantine centres on Saturday.

On Sunday, at least 15 more people tested positive for Covid-19 in Manipur, taking the total number of cases in the state to 172. All of them were returnees from Mumbai and Delhi.

Meanwhile, Manipur Chief Minister N Biren Singh held a crucial meeting of the State Consultative Committee for COVID-19 on Sunday and discussed the steps to prevent community spread of the COVID-19 by strict implementation of the SOPs to contain COVID 19.