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Voices on the Coronavirus Pandemic from Israel

Israeli tech to curb the epidemic

annotated by Ofer Markman PhD

 

UPDATED on 3/28/2020

Chinese, Israeli labs team up to build emergency COVID-19 testing facility

The lab will be able to perform over 10,000 tests per day and is expected to be completed by April 9.

By IDAN ZONSHINE   MARCH 28, 2020 11:33

An employee of German biopharmaceutical company CureVac, demonstrates research workflow on a vaccine for the coronavirus (COVID-19) disease at a laboratory in Tuebingen, Germany

(photo credit: REUTERS/ANDREAS GEBERT)

Israeli DNA company MyHeritage announced on Friday evening that they will be working with Chinese genomics giant BGI to build an emergency testing facility which will allow Israel to perform an additional ten thousand coronavirus tests per day.

The lab is expected to be completed by April 9, and after a short while, is expected to double the testing output to around 20,000 tests daily.

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An identical lab was set up in just five days by BGI in Wuhan City, the original epicenter of the coronavirus; another was set up in Shenzhen.  

According to MyHeritage CEO and co-founder Gilad Japhet, “BGI will ship to Israel in the coming days an aerial train of equipment including dozens of advanced qPCR corona testing machines – the type of equipment used to detect RNA viruses, which allows the detection of even minimal amounts of the virus. The equipment also includes RNA extraction robots and large quantities of relevant equipment.”

In order for the lab to keep up with the tight schedule and start operating by April 9, MyHeritage is preparing to recruit 110 new employees. 

According to Japhet, “Alongside the air train, about 25 experts from China will come to Israel to train us on how to work with the equipment.” 

The Chinese team of experts will be exempted from entering isolation as others landing in Israel are required to do, since they are required to come with medical certificates stating that they have tested negative for the virus.

SOURCE

https://www.jpost.com/health-science/chinese-israeli-labs-team-up-to-build-emergency-covid-19-testing-facility-622647

UPDATED on 3/26/2020

https://www.calcalistech.com/ctech/articles/0,7340,L-3803020,00.html

Calcalist Lists

The Israeli Inventions That Lessen The Healthcare System’s Burden

Israeli innovation has been enlisted in the battle against Covid-19. Here are six technological inventions helping health personnel in their fight against the pandemic

 

Discover the virus in seconds: the AI that identifies the virus with a simple CT scan
Israeli-American RADLogics Inc. […]

Blood tests in seclusion: a portable, AI-based device can perform a full blood count in minutes
Tel Aviv-based Sight Diagnostics Ltd. […]

To treat severe cases: developing antibodies from patients who have recovered
Veteran biopharmaceutical company Kamada Ltd. […]

Remote experts: a system that enables consultation with a remote control center
Predictive care startup Clew Medical Ltd.

Monitoring patients in home-quarantine: a contactless system that monitors breathing
Israel-based company EarlySense Ltd […]

Identify the most vulnerable: the study that looked into what makes some people more resistant to the virus
Tel Aviv-based Geneyx Genomex Ltd.

While these companies are a selected list of companies doing better then they can to help with the crisis, other companies are working on protective gear for the medical staff, 3D printing needed gears including masks, donating DNA sequencing, and other diagnostics, remote communication gear for the isolated and the the sick (Unipercare among others who finds itself in two fronts, helping the hospitals and helping the 3rd age population that is isolated and at-risk).

Nevertheless the political crisis and the year-of-three- elections still rules the country preparedness to the crisis and without an economic plan amid the crisis and the lack of cohesiveness the country may find itself in a lesser then optimal condition.

So far the public takes the current harsher than any country measures well, but it is the first payday that is coming up (Israel is a monthly paycheck country), the economic plan, and the death-count in the coming weekend that may decide on the fate of the healthcare system amid the crisis.