Modern machines to expedite corona sample testing in Uttar Pradesh

LUCKNOW: With the arrival of around 27 lakh migrant workers to UP from various states amid Covid-19 lockdown, the state government has expedited its plan to have sample testing facilities in all the 75 districts.

The state health department has received 20 modern Covid-19 testing TrueNet machines those have been installed in 20 districts.

On Monday, a state aircraft was sent to Mumbai to bring 21 TruNet machines. In the next two days, another 34 machines will be transported. By the end of the week, all the 75 districts will have the machine.

Principal secretary, health and family welfare, Amit Mohan Prasad said the state government was working on fast testing of the samples for the patients who required emergency care or operation in hospitals. The samples of the people residing in farflung districts that did not have BSL2 laboratories will get their samples tested with the TruNet machines, he said.

“The TrueNet machines can test coronavirus samples within two hours while other machines take four to five hours. There are few such machines in the state. With more machines coming, this will help a lot in emergency cases,” said a health department officer.

At present, 8,000-9,000 tests a day are being conducted in 26 labs in the state. With more machines, the number of tests per day is likely to cross the 15,000-mark set by the state government.

A major chunk of total tests in the state is done in Lucknow. King George’s Medical University (KGMU) conducts around 1,000 tests per day.

The other labs for testing coronavirus samples are at Dr Ram Manohar Lohia Institute of Medical Sciences, Sanjay Gandhi Post Graduate Institute of Medical Sciences (SGPGIMS), Command Hospital, Indian Institute of Toxicology Research and Birbal Sahni Institute of Palaeosciences. Collectively, over 2500 tests were done in Lucknow every day, said a health department officer.