Lab to carry out 10K tests daily to be made operational today

Kolkata: Bengal government is all set to conduct 25,000 Covid sample tests per day from this week as a new high-throughput lab would be made operational at ICMR-National Institute of Cholera and Enteric Diseases (NICED) Beliaghata from Monday.

The new machine will be able to test over 10,000 samples in a day.

This lab will also reduce turn-around-time and exposure of lab personnel to infectious clinical materials.

The state government has already crossed the daily Covid tests over 15,000. After the inauguration of the new lab the number would go over 25,000 per day. It will give a further boost to the state's testing capacity.

As the testing capacity has increased in the past few days across the state, the health department managed to detect the new cases. The lab is enabled to test diseases other than COVID as well, and post the pandemic, will be able to test for Hepatitis B and C, HIV, Mycobacterium tuberculosis, Cytomegalovirus, Chlamydia, Neisseria, Dengue. According to a source, a Cobas 6800 machine would be installed at the lab.

It is one of the most advanced machines. State has already placed orders to get eight more Cobas machines. Once these machines arrive in the state, the testing capacity of Bengal may reach 1,00,000 sample tests per day.

These advanced machines would also help the health officials to conduct the tests with minimum intervention of the technicians.

The Prime Minister Narendra Modi would inaugurate the new lab at Beliaghata NICED along with the Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee through a video conference on Monday.

The state government will also import the other Cobas machines from Switzerland in collaboration with the ICMR. Bengal is the one of the first states to have such facilities. It would strengthen the Covid infrastructure of the state.