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From 250 to 400: Covid testing lab to increase capacity at SRN Hospital
With number of samples for Covid-19 confirmatory test rising, the newly set up lab at the SRN Hospital is all set to add more equipment to tackle the rush, said officials.
With number of samples for Covid-19 confirmatory test rising, the newly set up lab at the SRN Hospital is all set to add more equipment to tackle the rush, said officials.
The additional equipment will help the lab undertake 400 tests a day instead of 225 to 250 that it conducts per day at present, they added.
This would be helpful as now samples from additional three districts, Bhadohi, Sonbhadra and Mirzapur, are also arriving at the lab.
Earlier, the lab was catering to the samples from Prayagraj, Kaushambi, Pratapgarh, Fatehpur and Chitrakoot.
The dedicated lab embellished with requisite equipment and protection standards set up at MLN Medical College’s Microbiology department after receiving the mandatory go ahead from Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) became functional on April 10.
Till then all samples of COVID-19 suspected patients after collection were being sent to the labs at King George Medical University in the state capital and at Institute of Medical Sciences, Banaras Hindu University. This meant that no matter how quickly the tests gets conducted, it took one to two days at least for the results to arrive in the hands of the treating doctors and health department officials.
While in the beginning it was receiving mere 50-odd samples for testing from Prayagraj, Kaushambi, Pratapgarh, Fatehpur and Chitrakoot districts, soon the number of samples rose and it also started receiving samples from three additional districts of Bhadohi, Sonbhadra and Mirzapur.
“We have increased the number of equipment in the lab that will enable us to increase the number of tests as well. Presently we are carrying out tests of up to 20 samples a day but within a day or two, this capacity will rise to 400 tests a day,” said Dr SP Singh, principal, MLN Medical College.
The lab has a Biosafety level (BSL)-2 and BSL-3 units. BSL–2 biosafety level covers laboratories that work with agents associated with human diseases (ie pathogenic or infections organisms) that pose a moderate health hazard while BSL-3 Laboratories are designated for “indigenous or exotic agents that may cause serious or potentially lethal disease through the inhalation route of exposure.
