After Dayanand Medical College and Hospital (DMCH), Guru Angad Dev Veterinary and Animal Sciences University (GADVASU) will become the second facility to conduct Covid-19 tests in Ludhiana.
Confirming the development, vice-chancellor (V-C) AS Nanda said the process will start soon after the university receives the requisite infrastructure. “We are in talks with the vice-chancellor of Baba Farid University of Health Sciences (BFUHS), Faridkot, Raj Bahadur, who is supervising the project. Once fully functional, minimum 400 tests will be conducted in a single day at the diagnostic lab of GADVASU,” Nanda added.
To conduct Covid-19 tests, the university has sent 10 scientists – six to Government Medical College, Amritsar, and four to Government Medical College, Patiala – for training, GADVASU V-C said.
Nanda said, “Due to the lockdown, mobility has been restricted. So some tasks are taking more than the usual time to get completed. But we are trying our best to start the facility soon.” He added that the veterinary varsity had trained the medical support staff in conducting the tests.
“Scientists, including Dr Rajnish Sharma, Dr Mudit Chandra, Dr JS Arora, Dr Neeraj Singh, Dr Harsh Pawar and Dr Omar Khaleel Baba, have joined duty at Government Medical College, Patiala. Dr Mohan Jairath, Dr Deepali, Dr Jaspreet Kaur and Dr Astha Sharma are giving their services at Government Medical College, Amritsar,” the V-C said.
Besides, the university has provided two PCR testing machines, one each to Government Medical College, Amritsar, and Government Medical College, Patiala, Nanda added.
{{/usCountry}}Besides, the university has provided two PCR testing machines, one each to Government Medical College, Amritsar, and Government Medical College, Patiala, Nanda added.
{{/usCountry}}Besides DMCH, in Punjab, Covid-19 tests are also being conducted at BFUHS, Government Medical College, Amritsar, and Government Medical College, Patiala.
MORE TESTING CENTRES IN STORE
The state government has also decided to rope in universities and state-run labs to conduct Covid-19 testing. The chief minister has sanctioned ₹12 crore for six such institutions to purchase required equipment. Besides GADVASU, Ludhiana, these are — Regional Disease Diagnostic Lab (RDDL), North Zone Jalandhar; Guru Nanak Dev University, Amritsar; Punjabi University, Patiala; Punjab Biotech Incubator, Mohali; and Punjab Forensic Lab, Mohali.