Chandigarh: PGIMER's Contribution to COVID-19 Testing

At a time like this when the country is facing severe health care problems due to the pandemic, the Postgraduate Institute of Medical Education and Research (PGIMER) has made a significant contribution by establishing 50 COVID-19 molecular labs in North India.

Confirmation to this effect has been given by Director PGI, Professor Jagat Ram, who stated that the Department of Virology has established 50 COVID-19 testing real-time PCR labs. He also informed that these labs will be dedicated facilities where molecular diagnostic facilities will be provided to the patients for routine patient care.

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Several labs and medical colleges of Punjab, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu Kashmir, Uttarakhand, Leh, and Ladakh were covered under the program. Praising the effort of PGIMER, PGI Director Professor Dr. Jagat Ram told Hindustan Times, "The pandemic posed a big challenge to north India as during the initial phase very few labs were trained in molecular virology testing. It was a big challenge but, PGIMER accepted this as an opportunity to upgrade the labs of surrounding and far-flung areas."

Professor Mini P Singh told the daily that around 170 faculty members and technical staff from various states and Union territories will receive practical training to assist in the labs.

The Times of India reports that there are:

• 16 government medical colleges
• 8 civil hospitals
• 11 private medical colleges
• 7 Defense laboratories
• 4 state testing facilities

These institutions will benefit from the new initiative.

Further additional testing facilities are also established in GADVASU, Ludhiana, NRDDL, Jalandhar, Punjab biotechnology incubator, and Central Forensic Laboratory, Mohali. Following this initiative of PGIMER, several private medical colleges like CMC and DMC Ludhiana will also be able to conduct COVID-19 testing.

Previously, the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) took initiative to expand testing facilities and identified PGIMER as one of the 14 Centres of Excellence which will be responsible for monitoring all government and private medical colleges under its control.

The institution will also be adopting several means in order to create a state-of-the-art molecular biology setup. With the establishment of 50 COVID-19 molecular labs, PGIMER seems to have developed significantly in that direction.