Nanded university gets Covid-19 testing facility

AURANGABAD: The Swami Ramanand Teerth Marathwadad University (SRTMU), Nanded has received the official nod for carrying out testing of throat swab samples for Covid-19.
The facility with a capacity to test around 250 samples every day has been set up at the centre for Agro-Bio Innovation and Incubation Foundation at the university. With this, the total number of testing laboratories in Marathwada has increased to two.The first lab was started at Government Medical College and Hospital (GMCH), Aurangabad.
Udhav Bhosle, SRTMU vice-chancellor, on Thursday said that the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) — competent authority at the national level — has granted official permission for the university for carrying out the tests.
"We have written a letter to district administrations in and around Nanded informing them about the availability of Covid-19 testing facility at our university. Similar communication is being sent to possible beneficiary districts by the government as well. It is one of the major achievements of our university to figure among a very few institutions of higher learning in the country that is enabled with Covid-19 testing facility," he said.
Bhosle added that the Covid-19 testing facility at the university will be based on Real time-Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR). “The PCR test is carried out by taking swab samples of suspected patients and confirming the presence of Covid-19 even during early days. The PCR test is the most credible test and potentially different from the rapid test method,” he said.
SRTMU public relations officer Ashok Kadam said the centre for Agro-Bio Innovation and Incubation Foundation got the state-of-the-art infrastructure and facilities due to adequate fund-flow from the government.
Currently, swab samples of suspected Covid-19 patients from Latur and Osmanabad are sent to Solapur while that of other six districts from Marathwada are tested at GMCH, Aurangabad