Daijiworld Media Network - Udupi (MS)

Udupi, May 16: Indian Council for Medical Research (ICMR) granted permission to KMC Hospital in Manipal here to conduct tests on samples of suspected Covid-19 patients.

KMC Manipal already has a well-equipped and ultra-modern virology testing laboratory. Medical superintendent of KMC Manipal Dr Avinash Shetty said that the hospital had received official permission letter from ICMR on Thursday.

Dr Shetty further said, "We already have a well-equipped laboratory. Some equipment need to be added to treat coronavirus patients. So the full-fledged laboratory will start functioning from Monday, May 18 or Tuesday, May 19. It is possible to get the test results within half a day."

It is possible to test all the suspected throat culture in this facility and get results within the same day or at the latest by the next day. So far the samples of suspected Covid-19 patients were being sent to Bengaluru, Hassan, Shivamogga and Mangaluru. It used to take three to four days for the test report to get back to the Udupi administration.

It may be recalled, the second list, published on March 24, had names of private laboratories approved for testing the samples of suspected Covid-19 which included KMC Manipal. However, the name was dropped in the list announced on March 25.

In this midst of this, state health department is making all preparations to start a well-equipped laboratory to test coronavirus throat samples at the premises of district hospital at Ajjarakad. This laboratory is also likely to start functioning by the end of May according to the hospital sources.