COVID-19 labs at Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar Marathwada University, sub-centre conduct over 28k tests

Over 28,000 coronavirus RT- PCR tests have been conducted in nearly three months at labs set up at Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar Marathwada University's (BAMU) campus here and its sub-centre in Osmanabad, a university official said on Tuesday.

The lab in Aurangabad, which became operational on July 22, had conducted 19,437 swab tests till Monday morning, while the one at the BAMU's sub-centre in Osmanabad has carried out 9,000 tests, the official said.

The University's vice-chancellor Dr Pramod Yeole said, "It was a need of the hour and we acted swiftly. In Aurangabad, the lab was set up using CSR funding and we also succeeded in setting up a testing facility in a rural area like Osmanabad."

The lab in Aurangabad, which was set up using CSR funds of Aurangabad Industrial City (AURIC), has enabled early detection of the virus by making lab reports available in the span of 12 hours of sample collection.

When contacted to Kailas Jadhav, municipal commissioner of the Nashik Municipal Corporation, said the lab has been testing samples sent from Nashik as well and has helped in early detection of coronavirus cases.