Odisha planning to set up second Covid-19 testing lab at Sambalpur hospital

The Odisha government is planning to set up a Covid-19 testing laboratory at a hospital here to ease the burden on the states only other facility at Bhubaneswar.

The state government is working out the modalities of setting up a Biosafety Levels 2 (BSL 2) laboratory at Veer Surendra Sai Institute of Medical Sciences and Research (VIMSAR), a senior official said here on Thursday.

Jayashree Dora, the superintendent of VIMSAR, said the institute has sent a feasibility report to the government in this regard and a decision will be taken shortly. The laboratory is likely to come up in the microbiology department of the hospital, she said.

"Once the lab is operational, we can conduct the Recombinant Technology Polymerase Chain Reaction (rt PCR) test here for suspected cases of Covid-19," she said. Currently, the premier health care institute sends swab samples of suspected coronavirus patients to the Regional Medical Research Center (RMRC) in Bhubaneswar.

The Junior Doctors Association (JDA) at VIMSAR had requested the state government to set up two more Covid-19 laboratories - one at the institute and the other at MKCG Medical College and Hospital, Berhampur, following which the health department sought a feasibility report.

"The hospital here caters to hundreds of patients in western Odisha. The region will benefit from the BSL2 laboratory," Dora added. Odisha has reported two Covid-19 cases so far.