Page 29 - COVID_19_June_4_2020

SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY EFFORTS ON COVID-19 BY DEPARTMENT OF BIOTECHNOLOGY (DBT)
DBT-NCCS tests over 2000 samples for SARS-CoV-2 in a
month
Given the highly communicable nature of COVID-19, testing as many people as possible is crucial for controlling its spread and for appropriate management of the disease in the population.A large number of samples are required to be tested every day in Maharashtra as it is the worst affected state in the country.
To facilitate this ongoing COVID-19
surveillance, the National Centre for
Cell Science (DBT-NCCS) in Pune, an autonomous institution of the DBT, Government of India, was identified as one of the Government labs designated to carry out testing.
DBT-NCCS began testing samples for SARS-CoV-2 towards the end of April, 2020 with samples received from Pune district. However, ten days into testing, samples were sent to this centre from other districts of Maharashtra as well, causing a huge surge in the number of samples to be tested. Undaunted by this task, the team at DBT-NCCS accelerated and doubled its efforts. Consequently, more than a hundred samples are being tested every day. Over 2,000 samples have been tested by this centre in less than a month.
DBT-NCCS, which is primarily involved in conducting basic research in cell biology, made extensive and speedy preparations to begin functioning as a diagnostics centre soon after it was approved as a diagnostics facility by the DBT, the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) and the Maharashtra State Government.
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