BGI Group’s new facility is the first coronavirus test production facility in Ethiopia that opened earlier this month. It is designed to be able to make 6-8 million tests in a year and can expand the annual capacity to up to 10 million in accordance with local demand. BGI, which makes genome sequencing and medical devices, is hoping to use its footprint in Ethiopia in expanding its supplies to other African countries. The Ethiopia factory could be later converted to make test kits for HIV, malaria and tuberculosis once the Covid-19 pandemic ends. Ethiopia, one of the countries that has the most new daily infections on average in Africa, has reported 69,709 infections and 1,108 coronavirus-related deaths since the pandemic began.
SOURCE: CNN