CHENNAI: As the State sees an exponential rise in COVID-19 cases day by day, the government is gearing up for more aggressive testing. Joining the State’s fight at this juncture are Central Leather Research Institute (CLRI), IIT-Madras and the Cancer Institute.
The CLRI in Adyar has already made ready a full-fledged testing lab in its campus. Additionally, a Bio Safety Level-2 facility to handle samples from patients, and for RNA extraction, has been established on war footing, and more critical equipment are expected to arrive in the next few days.
“We are expecting to get approval from Indian Council for Medical Research (ICMR) in another 10 days. Few research scholars from CLRI are already lending a helping hand at the King’s Institute,” said KJ Sreeram, director of CLRI.
He added, “Additionally, Hewlett Packard is providing a ready to use container with Bio Safety Level-3 facility too. We are also expecting few automated RNA extraction units to arrive that can process 40-90 samples per hour, compared to 1-2 samples done manually in four hours.”
CLRI, combined with IIT-M and the Cancer Institute, have enough RT-PCR machines to meet the State’s demand, he added. Meanwhile, in an official response IIT-M said, the institute has tied up with CLRI. “IIT-M does not have the facility to do RNA extraction, and will only do RT-PCR tests,” said the institute.