Punjab govt to setup four new COVID testing labs

Tribune News Service
Ludhiana, August 3

Four new COVID testing labs are being established by the Punjab government, including one at the College of Animal Biotechnology, Guru Angad Dev Veterinary and Animal Sciences University (GADVASU), Ludhiana.

Dr J P S Gill, Director of Research cum Nodal officer of the lab, said that the GADVASU lab is the first one out of the four to get the necessary approval from Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR). He said that diagnostic tests are highly skill-oriented and GADVASU has the expertise and well-established research labs for animal biotechnology, virology, and cell culture and disease epidemiology. Ten scientists of the university have been instrumental in the initial setup of the labs at the Government Medical colleges Amritsar and Patiala.

The Vice-Chancellor of the university, Dr Inderjeet Singh, on Monday made a previsit to the lab to oversee its functioning before receipt of samples. Sharing his views, the vice-chancellor thanked the state government for reposing confidence in the capabilities of the university as one of the centres for COVID testing and assured that university will go the extra mile to fight the disease. He extended his gratitude to the state government and Dr Raj Bahadur, Vice-Chancellor Baba Farid University of Health Sciences (BFUHS) for providing the necessary equipment, logistics and the supporting staff for the lab.

Dr Gill also informed that they will start processing the samples once the necessary kits are received from the BFUHS Faridkot. To begin with, 20 scientists and lab personnel will be working in two shifts to process 100 to 250 samples per day. The same will be increased to 1,000 samples per day once the lab facilities are upgraded.