Coronavirus: Rajnath Singh inaugurates mobile testing labs developed by DRDO
The Ministry of Defence on Thursday unveiled a mobile laboratory that will serve as testing facilities for the coronavirus disease (COVID-19). This Mobile Virology Research and Diagnostics Laboratory (MVRDL) was completed in a record time of 15 days and will be able to process 1,000 test samples a day, the Ministry said in a statement. Here are more details.
MVRDL jointly developed by DRDO, Hyderabad-based ESIC Hospital
The MVRDL has been developed by the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) in collaboration with the Employees' State Insurance Corporation (ESIC) Hospital, Hyderabad, and private industry. The Ministry said that building the lab would usually take six months, however, the MVRDL was built in just 15 days. The first Mobile Viral Research Lab (MVRL) was built by the DRDO's Research Centre Imarat (RCI).
Labs designed and built by iClean
The DRDO acknowledged the efforts of iCOMM for providing the containers in which the mobile labs have been set up, iClean for designing and building the labs in a time-bound manner, and Hi Tech Hydraulics for providing the base frame.
Defence Minister Rajnath Singh unveiled labs via video conference
Defence Minister Rajnath Singh unveiled the labs via a video conference and appreciated the labs' completion in record time. He also acknowledged the contribution of the Armed forces in setting up quarantine centers, providing healthcare facilities, evacuating Indian nationals stuck abroad, etc. Minister of State for Home G Kishan Reddy, DRDO Chairperson G Satheesh Reddy were among those who participated in the conference.
Labs have built-in electrical controls, CCTV, etc.
The Ministry said in its statement that the MVRL is the combination of Bio-Safety Level (BSL) 2 and Level 3 labs. The labs have built-in electrical controls, LAN, telephone cabling, and CCTV. They were designed as per biosafety standards set by the World Health Organization (WHO) and the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) to meet international standards.
Mobile labs can screen 1,000-2,000 samples a day
The Ministry said, "The mobile lab will be helpful to carry out the diagnosis of COVID-19 and also virus culturing for drug screening, convalescent plasma-derived therapy, comprehensive immune profiling of COVID-19 patients towards vaccine development early clinical trials specific to the Indian population." It added, "The lab screens 1,000-2,000 samples per day. This lab can be positioned anywhere in the country, as per requirement."
India reports 21,700 COVID-19 cases; over 5 lakh tests conducted
According to the latest update from the Union Health Ministry, by 5 pm on Thursday, India has reported a total of 21,700 COVID-19 cases. These include 686 deaths and 16,689 active cases, along with 4,324 cured/discharged patients and one patient who migrated out of India. Till Thursday morning, India had tested 5,00,542 samples from 4,85,172 individuals, the ICMR said.
