Government. is moving to ramp up COVID-19 testing

To expedite COVID-19 testing at the Viral Research and Diagnostic Laboratories (VRDL) of the state’s 14 medical colleges, Minister of Health Alla Kali Krishna Srinivas has approved the appointment of 113 additional technical staff.

As part of the key decisions of the government-appointed group of ministers to combat the spread of the virus, the minister cleared the way for the appointment of additional staff on a contract basis for a period of six months.

The move will enable an increased number of Reverse Transcription Polymerase Chain Reaction (RTPCR) tests on the VRDLs on a daily basis.

The government had previously recruited 533 employees in three phases to conduct the tests at the medical colleges. In addition, 113 additional technical staff have now been hired.

The minister said the idea is to speed up the tests and get the result in the shortest possible time.

The VRDLs are equipped with scientists, research assistants, laboratory technicians, data entry operators and office workers.

“There are currently more than 40,000 RTPCR tests performed every day. By hiring additional staff, the number of these tests can be increased to more than 60,000, ”he said.

The minister said the number of TruNat tests would also increase in the coming days. The RTPCR tests would be conducted at all state medical colleges in the state, except two private medical colleges – Asram Medical College in Eluru and Maharaja Medical College in Vizianagaram, he added.

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