PM Modi To Inaugurate Three High Throughput Covid Labs Today To Ramp Up Testing Capacity

Aiming for a pan-India daily testing capacity of a million COVID-19 samples, Prime Minister (PM) Narendra Modi will today (27 July) virtually inaugurate three high throughput testing laboratories in three different cities, reports The Print.

The three laboratories have been set up in Mumbai, Kolkata and Noida, and will together have the capacity of testing as many as 10,200 samples a day and reduce turnaround time and exposure of lab personnel to infectious clinical materials.

It should be noted that this is the first time that high throughput laboratories have been set up outside the National Capital Region (NCR).

The concerned authorities have already taken the pan-India daily testing figures to about 4.5 lakh samples a day, with an increased number of accredited public and private laboratories and usage of rapid antigen test kits among other efforts.

It should be noted that NITI Aayog member (Health) Dr VK Paul had said in a briefing last week that the Government is looking at eventually conducting a million tests a day. The establishment of high throughput laboratories has been hailed by officials in the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) as a building block in that very plan.

“The labs are enabled to test diseases other than COVID-19 as well, and post the pandemic, will be able to test for Hepatitis B and C, HIV, mycobacterium tuberculosis, cytomegalovirus, chlamydia, neisseria and dengue,” the PMO reportedly said in a statement.