Defence Minister Rajnath Singh today unveiled a Mobile Virology Research and Diagnostics Laboratory developed by the DRDO in association with the ESIC Hospital.
Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on Thursday unveiled via video conference a Mobile Virology Research and Diagnostics Laboratory (MVRDL) developed by the DRDO in association with the ESIC Hospital, Hyderabad, and private companies.
Speaking on the occasion, Singh said that the government under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi had taken several timely decisions because of which the spread of Covid-19 in the country was far less compared to that in many other countries.
He commended the setting up of this Bio-Safety Level 2 and Level 3 lab in a record time of 15 days, compared to the usual six months.
He said that this testing facility which could process more than 1,000 samples in a day would enhance the country's capabilities in fighting Covid-19.
He added that the country's Armed Forces were contributing in many ways - such as through the setting up of quarantine centres, providing healthcare facilities and evacuating Indian nationals from other countries - to fight Covid-19, and said that these efforts would continue.
The function was also attended by Union Minister of State for Home Affairs G Kishan Reddy, Union Minister of State for Labour & Employment Santosh Kumar Gangwar, Telangana ministers K T Rama Rao and Ch Malla Reddy, and Chairman of DRDO Dr G Satheesh Reddy.
The lab, the first such MVRDL, that will speed up Covid-19 screening and related R&D activities, was developed by Research Centre Imarat (RCI), the Hyderabad-based laboratory of the DRDO, in consultation with the ESIC Hospital.
The lab has been built as per WHO and ICMR bio-safety standards to meet international guidelines. The system has built-in electrical controls, LAN, telephone cabling and CCTV.
The mobile lab will be helpful to carry out diagnosis of Covid-19 as also virus culturing for drug screening, convalescent plasma-derived therapy, and comprehensive immune profiling of Covid-19 patients towards development of a vaccine specific to the Indian population.
The lab will screen 1,000-2,000 samples per day, and can be positioned anywhere in the country as per the need.
DRDO acknowledged the contributions of M/s iCOMM for provision of containers, M/s iClean for design and build of the BSL2 and BSL3 labs in a time-bound manner, and M/s Hi-Tech Hydraulics for providing the base frame.