The coronavirus disease (Covid-19) testing laboratory at Kalpana Chawla Government Medical College and Hospital in Karnal, which is the first testing facility in northern Haryana, started functioning on Saturday.
The laboratory’s first trial was successfully conducted on Thursday, and on Saturday samples of 41 people were collected.
Karnal deputy commissioner (DC) Nishant Yadav said the lab will add to the testing capacity of the state and will also ensure that patients’ reports are received without delay.
The lab, which has a testing capacity of 144 samples per day, will remain operational round-the-clock and staff has been hired accordingly, the DC said.
He said the RT-PCR machine for the lab had been brought from the National Dairy and Research Institute, Karnal. Besides, Karnal the lab will also test samples from the Kurukshetra and Kaithal districts.
So far, there have been six Covid-19 positive cases in the district and one death.