The locally-made low cost ventilator by Makerere University for giving breathing support to Covid-19 patients has successfully passed the engineering tests.

Ventilators are used on patients who have signs of breathing failure, a likely scenario with Covid-19 patients.

However, according to information from ECRI (Emergency Care Research Institute) website, a global institute that does medical device testing, ventilator tests include battery test and power loss alarm, lamp test, audible and visual alarms, ventilator rate leak tests and proximal airway pressure gauge, and positive end-respiratory pressure (PEEP) control.

Statistics from the institute also indicate that about four per cent (2/56) of Covid-19 patients who recovered had progressed to the worst health state one (about 2 per cent) required breathing support.

Statistics from a study published in Journal of American Medical Association showed that of 5,700 patients admitted in one of the hospitals in New York, around 12 per cent needed breathing support.