GUWAHATI: The process for setting up a bio-safety level (BSL)-3 laboratory in Nagaland gained momentum with the first consignment of equipment for building the facility reaching Dimapur airport on Thursday morning.
The laboratory will be set up at the Naga Hospital Authority Kohima (NHAK) for testing suspected novel coronavirus (COVID-19) samples.
Nagaland chief minister Neiphiu Rio, while assuring that the laboratory would be functional at the earliest, thanked Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR), Delhi for fulfilling a long-felt need of the government.
“Equipment for setting up BSL-3 at NHAK along with technicians have reached Nagaland. I thank ICMR Delhi for fulfilling the long-felt need of the government to have our own testing facilities. Work will begin immediately round the clock, so that it is functional at the earliest,” Rio posted on his official Twitter handle on Thursday.
It may be mentioned that the Union defence ministry had promptly responded to a request made by Nagaland Governor R.N Ravi by ordering airlift of the equipment from Mumbai to Dimapur by an Indian Air Force aircraft to set up the facility.
Meanwhile, the Central Nagaland Tribes Council (CNTC) has demanded a similar laboratory in Dimapur, as it was the most densely populated district in the state, besides being an endemic zone for many viral and bacterial diseases.
Nagaland currently does not have a testing facility for coronavirus and suspected samples have to be sent to Assam for testing suspected cases.
Reportedly, the Nagaland health department has said that a patient from Dimapur who tested positive for COVID-19 recently has been “added to the tally of Assam as sampling was done there”.
As many as 184 persons have been tested in the state so far and 174 samples have resulted negative till Wednesday evening.