RT-PCR Testing Labs To Be Set Up In 16 Odisha Districts, CM Naveen Grants Rs 20Cr

Bhubaneswar: As Odisha grapples with the second wave of Coronavirus, the State Health Department approved the proposal for setting up of RT-PCR Covid-19 testing laboratories in 16 districts.

Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik has sanctioned Rs 20 crore for establishment of these facilities which will come up at the district headquarters hospitals.

The 16 districts where the laboratory facilities will come up are Bhadrak, Boudh, Dhenkanal, Gajapati, Khordha, Jagatsinghpur, Jajpur, Kendrapara, Nabarangpur, Malkangiri, Nuapada, Sonepur, Kandhamal, Sundergarh, Rayagada and Bargarh.

One microbiologist and three technicians will be appointed on outsourcing basis for functioning of these proposed labs per shift.

Notifying the development, the Odisha Health and Family Welfare Department wrote, “The government has accorded the proposal for setting up RTPCR COVID-19 testing laboratory facilities at district headquarters of 16 districts in view of the second wave of COVID-19 pandemic.”

In case of Rayagada district, though the machine has been ordered by OSMCL (Odisha State Medical Corporation), all the other peripheral equipments including bio safety cabinet Class-II A2 and BSL level 2+ will be installed.

The approximate unit cost for establishment of RTPCR COVID-19 Testing Laboratory Facility with Biosafety Cabinet Class II A2 and Biosafety Level 2+( BSL 2+) will around Rs 1.2 crores.