Corona test kits, PPE flownin to replenish IMS supplies

TNN | Apr 7, 2020, 04:00 IST

Varanasi: A chartered flight of Air India landed at LBS International Airport here on Monday morning carrying kits for Covid-19 test, RNA extraction, personal protective equipment (PPE) and other medical apparatus for the microbiology laboratory of Institute of Medical Science, Banaras Hindu University. The IMS lab has been conducting tests and was running short of kits and protective gear.
Prof Gopal Nath, in-charge of microbiology laboratory, which is testing samples from 16 districts of east UP region, told TOI, “The laboratory had started facing shortage of these kits and on Sunday we had to arrange some material from other laboratories of the institute. With the arrival of this consignment today, now we have sufficient stock to meet the requirements of coming one week in view of the increased flow of samples from all 16 districts.”
The IMS microbiology lab was declared as one of the nodal centres for Covid-19 test by the government on March 6.
“Till March 27, on an average, 8-10 samples were coming from districts to our lab per day. But, after March 28, the volume of samples increased sharply. Till March 31, as many as 246 samples were tested at our laboratory. And till Monday morning, the number of tested samples reached 615,” Prof. Nath added.
“Now, we are testing over 100 sample