TIRUCHY: THE VRDL laboratory at KAP Vishwanathan Government Medical College has tested more
than 23,000 samples for coronavirus till Tuesday.
Of these, over 20,000 are from Tiruchy district and the remaining is from Ariyalur, Perambalur and Pudukkottai.
The lab, which started testing samples on March 25, is now testing almost 1,500 samples daily. To handle the increased workload, four more lab technicians and two research assistants have been appointed temporarily, said Dr Dhanapaul, Head of the Department of Microbiology, KAPV College.
Two new machines were recently donated to the college by various Rotary Clubs in Tiruchy. One is an RT-PCR machine and the other a Truenat machine. “The Truenat machines were used to test for tuberculosis. The same company has developed kits for COVID-19 and it has been approved by the Indian Council of Medical Resaeach (ICMR). Truenat is also a PCR machine, but faster. We can put four samples at a time in the machine and get quicker results. As it is cartridge-based, it means less work. Currently, if the machine shows a positive reading, we then test the sample in the RT-PCR machine,” said Dhanapaul.
Dhanapaul said the kits are cheaper and cost Rs 1,200, compared to around Rs 3,000 for the RT-PCR. The lab is testing samples 24x7.
Tiruchy recorded a total of 171 positive cases till Wednesday, with 51 of them active.
Private labs are also now testing samples. They tested 1,150 samples till Monday, according to District Collector S Sivarasu.