Odisha To Set Up Second COVID-19 Testing Lab At VIMSAR

Sambalpur: To ease the burden on the only COVID-19 testing facility in Odisha, the state government has started working on a Biosafety Level 2 (BSL-2) laboratory at Veer Surendra Sai Institute of Medical Sciences and Research (VIMSAR) at Burla.

VIMSAR Superintendent Jayashree Dora said that the feasibility report for setting up of the laboratory was sent to the state government on Wednesday.

The laboratory has been proposed to be set up in the Microbiology Department of VIMSAR at the earliest.

“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.

Swab samples of all suspected coronavirus patients are currently being sent to the Regional Medical Research Center (RMRC) in Bhubaneswar.