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Chandigarh’s CSIR-IMTECH to start testing Covid-19 samples
Post Graduate Institute of Medical Education and Research in Sector 12, and Government Medical College and Hospital in Sector 32 are the other two institutes in the city conducting tests.
CSIR-Institute of Microbial Technology (IMTECH), Sector 39, is set to start testing coronavirus (COVID-19) samples.
This makes it the third institute in Chandigarh to conducts tests for coronavirus, the other two being Post Graduate Institute of Medical Education and Research (PGIMER) in Sector 12, and Government Medical College and Hospital (GMCH) in Sector 32.
On Thursday, the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) had allowed all national research laboratories, including those under the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) to conduct testing for coronavirus. CSIR is India’s premier national research and development organisation, which operates a network of over 38 laboratories across the country.
Institute’s director Dr Sanjeev Khosla said the institute was equipped to test around 100 samples a day, and the capacity can be increased when required. He said CSIR-IMTECH had the requisite BSL (biosafety level) 2 and BSL3 laboratories, along with manpower expertise, to carry out testing for Covid-19. “All mandatory approvals for testing clinical samples have been obtained to operationalise testing at the earliest,” he added.
UT health secretary Arun Kumar Gupta said the protocol for testing at IMTECH will be formulated after they officially receive intimation of the testing facility from the institute.
As part of the existing protocol at PGIMER and GMCH, foreign travellers are tested if they have symptoms. All symptomatic people, who came in contact with a positive patient, or have severe acute respiratory infection (SARI) are also tested. Any other persons suspecting infection first need to contact the health department to allow it to establish if testing is required.
Apart from testing clinical samples, IMTECH is also supporting healthcare professionals by providing Personal Protection Equipment (PPE) to safeguard them against infection while serving patients.
