Dileep V Kumar By

Express News Service

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The state will have three centres for testing COVID-19 and one centre for coordinating sample collection. The centres for testing are National Institute of Virology Field Unit, Alappuzha; Government Medical College, Thiruvananthapuram; and Government Medical College, Kozhikode. Whereas Government Medical College, Thrissur, has been identified as the lone laboratory for helping in sample collection.

The Health Department received a new set of instructions regarding inclusion criteria for testing COVID-19 and its laboratory preparedness. It’s the ICMR that notified the three centres for testing and the one for sample collection. It also mentioned about three categories for testing and samples to be collected, said a Health Department official.

The samples to be taken for testing will be throat and nasal swabs. “The three centres for testing COVID-19 will detect viral pathogens using serological methods and molecular diagnostic tools. All these laboratories also have an operational Real-Time PCR platform that ensures high sample throughput, low contamination risk, quantification of result and results.

The quality control activities will be undertaken by the National Institute of Virology, Pune. In the case of the sample collection centre, it will facilitate the transport of samples to the nearest testing laboratory,” added the officer. At the same time, an officer of the Integrated Disease Surveillance Programme said the state’s standard operating procedure is very much similar to the ICMR’s advisory.

Ramping up

The centres for testing are National Institute of Virology Field Unit, Alappuzha; Government Medical College, Thiruvananthapuram; and Government Medical College, Kozhikode. Whereas Government Medical College, Thrissur, has been identified as the lone laboratory for helping in sample collection.