TEHRAN, Iran, March.23
Trend:
Iran has the capacity to run 10,000 coronavirus tests per day, said Director of Pasteur Institute of Iran.
"Pasteur Institute of Iran has started designing laboratory kits even before the first case of the disease was diagnosed in Iran. Furthermore, two laboratories were built in Qom and Arak to study coronavirus since the early cases were revealed in these two cities," said Alireza Biglari, Trend reports citing IRNA.
"The Pasteur Institute has worked to increase the capacity to diagnose and fight coronavirus. The number of tests conducted daily increased from 60 tests to 30 times more," Biglari added. "Currently, the capacity has reached to 2,000 tests per day that is even exceeds that of Stanford University."
"Fifty-six coronavirus laboratories will be launched across the country. The tests are currently run at Tabriz, Isfahan, Shiraz, Zahedan, Zanjan and Tehran, and this step has been praised by the World Health Organization experts," the institute director said.
"So far, the kits were mostly donated by other countries; however, more than 53 knowledge based companies have announced readiness to produce the kits domestically," he said adding that in the next four weeks domestically produced kits will be used to stabilize the situation.
"Pasteur Institute of Iran has started to develop vaccination. Meanwhile, given that currently, there is no cure for coronavirus, people should avoid leaving homes," Biglari added.
According to official data, 7,913 people have recovered from coronavirus in Iran, while 1,685 persons have died, and 68 percent of the deaths are reported for those over 60 years old.