WARANGAL: The virology laboratory at Kakatiya Medical College (KMC) in Warangal would start testing samples for Coronavirus in a day or two, said KMC principal Dr S Sandhya on Friday.
She said the testing kits have arrived at Gandhi Hospital from Pune and a team from the college’s microbiology department would leave for Hyderabad to collect them.
“Once we have the testing kits, we will start the trial run and the test results will be sent to the National Institute of Virology (NIV) in Pune. After the NIV issues Quality Control (QC) certificate, we will continue testing the samples on campus,” Sandhya said.
At present, the Mahatma Gandhi Memorial Hospital in Warangal sees patients from north Telangana districts as well as from the border villages of Maharashtra and Chhattisgarh. The samples of the suspected Covid-19 patients are sent to Gandhi Hospital in Hyderabad for tests. And to get back the results, the doctors have to wait for two to three days.
Till then, the patients are kept under isolation at the hospital. With the KMC lab testing the samples, those infected by the virus could be treated early. According to the authorities at KMC, the Virology Research and Diagnostic Lab (VRDL) has been built at a cost of `1.70 crore and the installation of biosafety cabinet would be completed soon. The lab would be handed over to the microbiology department and a nodal officer for the lab would be appointed soon, said officials.