19 samples tested at MKCG in last 3 days

BERHAMPUR:  As many as 19 swab samples have been tested for Covid-19 since Sunday at the newly set up coronavirus testing lab here. MKCG Superintendent Dr Santosh Kumar Mishra said the machine was installed by Odisha State Medical Corporation (OSMC) 10 days back at a cost of `22 lakh.

However, it was made functional on Saturday after the Indian Council of Medical Research gave the go-ahead to MKCG to conduct the tests. It can test 17 samples at a time. In the first phase, 50 testing kits have been received. Dr Mishra said doctors have been trained in three phases to operate the machine and study the findings. “At present, reports of tests conducted at MKCG are being sent to the State Capital for cross-checking. However, once the standardisation process is over, the reports can be obtained here,” he said. 

The results of the tests conducted at MKCG have not yet been received. Meanwhile, the Tata Medica Hospital at Sitalpalli, with 200 beds and 10 ventilators, has been declared the Covid-19 hospital of the district. No patients have yet been admitted to the facility.