GUWAHATI: Assam is all set to achieve its target of conducting 3 lakh swab tests for coronavirus by the end of the current month with as many as 2.35 lakh such tests conducted till date.
The testing rate will only be accelerated as the 12th ICMR-accredited COVID-19 lab, and eight under medical colleges in the state, was inaugurated at Guwahati Medical College and Hospital (GMCH) here by Assam health minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on Wednesday.
The new VRDL lab with bio safety cabinet has a capacity of testing 400 to 500 samples per day. This is the third such lab to be inaugurated at GMCH.
The other two labs at the hospital have so far conducted 41,007 tests for the virus, the highest rate followed by FAA Medical College and Hospital, Barpeta, where 35,773 tests have been conducted till Wednesday morning.
Addressing reporters later, Sarma, who returned to work two days after being diagnosed with a kidney stone at GMCH, said that the launch of the Assam Targeted Surveillance Programme (ATSP) from Wednesday in 12 centres across the city would further boost the testing rate.
“As it is, we had yesterday achieved our target of conducting 10,000 COVID-19 tests in the state,” he said.
Under ATSP, 50,000 random tests will be conducted in Guwahati between June 17 and June 27 in view of the rising COVID-19 cases in the city without travel history. Vulnerable areas such as truck parking lots, wayside dhabas, oil depots, hotels, weigh bridges, etc are being identified for conducting random tests.
“The outcome of the programme would determine whether or not to impose another lockdown,” Sarma said.
The health minister also inaugurated a digital mammography machine at the radiology department of GMCH.