TEHRAN – A knowledge-based company developed a technological test kit to diagnose the new Omicron strains, IRNA reported on Friday.

Every new strain of the virus that enters the country, it is necessary to examine the efficiency of the kits, Mohammad Baqer Mahmoudi, CEO of the manufacturing company said.

ٰThe daily number of hospitalization cases soared to 2,262 while nearly 2,085 patients reported being in intensive care wards in hospitals.

These tests are done by downloading an atlas of virus mutations from the World Health Organization (WHO) and examining the location of the mutations, and the data obtained are compared with the kits produced to see if the kit can detect the mutations, he explained.

If this does not match, the kits will be designed based on these mutations, otherwise, the generated kit will be used for new strains as well, he said, adding, we have produced several diagnostic kits, one of which is related to virus extraction that met up to 90 percent of the country’s needs.

Last year, as the first manufacturer of COVID-19 antigen-based diagnostic kits during the pandemic, the company was one of the top three manufacturers of this kit in the world.

Iranian Health Minister Bahram Einollahi has announced the beginning of a new wave of coronavirus pandemic, as the number of infected people with the Omicron variant is surging.

The minister urged more caution against the disease and said getting booster vaccinations could play a major role in preventing a fresh surge in the number of deaths and infections from the virus.

The daily number of hospitalization cases soared to 2,262 while nearly 2,085 patients were reported to be in intensive care wards in hospitals because of the disease on Friday.

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