PM To Launch 'High Throughput Covid-19 Testing' Facilities Today; Know All About It

According to a release from the PMO, these facilities will ramp up testing capacity in the country and help in strengthening early detection and treatment.

New Delhi: In order to ramp up testing of Covid-19 countrywide, Prime Minister Narendra Modi will launch high throughput Covid-19 testing facilities on Monday via video conferencing , the Prime Minister’s Office said on Sunday.  Union Minister for Health and Family Welfare and Science and Technology, along with Chief Ministers of Maharashtra, West Bengal and Uttar Pradesh will be participating in the event.

What are high throughput facilities & how will they benefit?

High-throughput screening (HTS) is a method for scientific experimentation especially used in drug discovery and relevant to the fields of biology and chemistry. Using robotics, data processing/control software, liquid handling devices, and sensitive detectors, high-throughput screening allows a researcher to quickly conduct millions of chemical, genetic, or pharmacological tests. Through this process one can rapidly identify active compounds, antibodies, or genes that modulate a particular biomolecular pathway.

How will it help in control of Coronavirus?

According to a release from the PMO, these facilities will ramp up testing capacity in the country and help in strengthening early detection and treatment, thus assisting in controlling the spread of the pandemic. These labs will also reduce turn-around-time and exposure of lab personnel to infectious clinical materials.

They will test over 10,000 samples in a day and these will be strategically placed in  Noida, Mumbai and Kolkata.

Another benefit is that these labs are enabled to test diseases other than Covid-19 as well and post the pandemic, will be able to test for Hepatitis B and C, HIV, Mycobacterium tuberculosis, Cytomegalovirus, Chlamydia, Neisseria, Dengue, etc

"These three high-throughput testing facilities have been set up strategically at ICMR-National Institute of Cancer Prevention and Research, Noida; ICMR-National Institute for Research in Reproductive Health, Mumbai; and ICMR-National Institute of Cholera and Enteric Diseases.

India witnessed over 48,000 Coronavirus cases on Sunday, the highest detections in 24 hours so far. The overall tally of India in terms of total infections has neared 14 lakh figure and is likely to breach as tomorrow's data will be released.

Also Watch: