Stop coronavirus: the Rinat Akhmetov Foundation will purchase an analyzer for Donetsk Region to detect the infection in laboratory conditions

According to the Ministry of Health, Donetsk Region is currently the only region in Ukraine where the necessary equipment and tests are not available to conduct tests for the coronavirus in the laboratory.

Therefore, according to the personal decision made by the Founder and under the coordinated control of the Ministry of Health, the Rinat Akhmetov Foundation will purchase and transfer the Convergys® PCRtist sample analyzer completed with test cartridges within the shortest possible period of time.

The equipment is intended to qualitatively detect COVID-19, which causes severe complications, in laboratory conditions. The analyzer provides test results in just 2 hours.

According to the experts and the experience of the countries that are successfully fighting the virus (South Korea, in particular), such equipment is a real chance to prevent the spread of the disease under the pandemic context announced by WHO.

The express on-the-spot test is the most effective way to detect the disease and it can significantly accelerate the coronavirus diagnostics.

The equipment will be installed in Mariupol. Vasyl Honcharenko, Director of the Donetsk Regional Laboratory Centre State Institution of the Ministry of Health of Ukraine, expressed gratitude to the Rinat Akhmetov Foundation and noted that the new equipment would be a salvation for the entire region. Since today the samples to be analysed from the Donetsk Region have to be delivered to Kyiv, it does take a lot of time and resources. To preserve the accuracy of the analysis, the selected material should be brought to the laboratory as soon as possible, and the sample handling requirements during transportation must be abided. He states that Convergys® PCRtist coronavirus sample analyzer is automatically controlled, thus, it almost completely eliminates the factor of human error on the testing procedure, which reduces the analysis time and any risk of errors significantly. Therefore, using the analyzer, the analysis results can be obtained in less than two hours.

Mayor of Mariupol Vadim Boychenko noted, “During the hard times, the Rinat Akhmetov Foundation always comes to the aid of the home people. Even now, when the Donbass and the whole world are faced with the threat of a global coronavirus pandemic, the Fund again extended a helping hand to us and buys equipment that can detect the virus in two hours. This will certainly help prevent the uncontrolled spread of infection.”

The Rinat Akhmetov Foundation was the first in the country to respond to the danger of the coronavirus spread. The Ministry of Health of Ukraine received from the Foundation the equipment to save the patients with the most dangerous complications, as well as personal protective equipment for medical staff.

Those included SERVO-I UNIVERSAL and SERVO AIR artificial respiration units (ARU) and oxygen concentrators for them - 4 pcs.; insulating mobile box to transport infectious patients - EgoZlin biobag EBV - 30/40 - 1 pc; protective biological and antichemistry suit with filter and ventilation unit EOBO-20 EgoZlin - 1 pc; protective disposable overalls - 400 pcs; infrared thermometers with a laser pointer - 80 pcs; protective masks - 10 000 pcs.

Moreover, the protective equipment for the doctors and staff of the medical facility has already been delivered in the Novi Sanzhary Sanatorium. A week earlier, the Rinat Akhmetov Foundation donated “care sets” to the people evacuated from China: rug blankets, personal-care products, and bathrobes.