E-Paper
Four research institutes in Lucknow to restart Covid testing at their labs
Amidst steep rise in Covid-19 cases in Uttar Pradesh, four prominent Lucknow-based research institutes are set to restart corona testing at their labs as an effort to join the fight against the global pandemic
Amidst steep rise in Covid-19 cases in Uttar Pradesh, four prominent Lucknow-based research institutes are set to restart corona testing at their labs as an effort to join the fight against the global pandemic.
The four institutes-- National Botanical Research Institute (NBRI), Central Drug Research Institute (CDRI), Birbal Sahani Institute of Paleosciences (BSIP) and Indian Institute of Toxicology Research (IITR) --had also conducted mass testing last year when the pandemic was on the rise.
However, they stalled the testing when the number of Covid-19 cases plummeted.
“We are planning to begin Covid-19 testing again as the number of cases are rising. Testing is one of the major aspects of controlling the spread of Covid-19 infection in which we want to assist the health infrastructure of the government,” said NBRI director Dr SK Barik.
The administration of all the four institutes are planning to begin the testing from next week.
The move came in line of the state government’s decision to boost testing following the recent spike in Covid-19 cases. The state recorded more than 12,787 cases on Saturday. Of these 4059 cases were reported from state capital itself.
Currently, majority of the testing is being done by King George Medical University (KGMU) and Sanjay Gandhi Post Graduate Institute of Medical Sciences (SGPGI) in Lucknow, besides some private labs.
If research institutes begin testing, Lucknow can test an additional of 1200 to 1500 Covid-19 samples each day.
“Our staff is well equipped with handling Covid-19 testing as we had conducted large space testing last year. We are planning to follow a similar model and begin Covid-19 testing at our institute,” said director of CDRI Dr Tapas Kundu.
Last year, all four institutes allocated designated labs within their campus which were used to test Covid-19 samples. Scientists and research scholars at the institutes worked in shifts to conduct the tests.
