Himanta Biswa Sarma inaugurated COVID-19 lab at CSIR-NESIT in Jorhat

A CORRESPONDENT

JORHAT: State Health Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on Saturday inaugurated the newly-constructed COVID-19 testing laboratory at the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research-North East Institute of Science and Technology (CSIR-NEIST) in Jorhat.

Inaugurating the laboratory, the minister appealed to all the research institutes in the State to set up COVID-19 test laboratories and to join hands with the government in the fight against coronavirus.

The minister said, "For the first time we are opening a COVID-19 testing lab outside the medical colleges in CSIR-NEIST. This institution is basically known for science and research but in this time of crisis, it has joined hands with the State Government to conducts COVID-19 tests."

Sarma added, "Besides the Regional Medical Research Centre (RMRC) in Dibrugarh, we have COVID-19 testing laboratory in six medical colleges in the State. We have conducted 85,000 tests till date. With the addition of this laboratory at CSIR-NEIST, our capacity will go up and we will cumulatively touch the 1 lakh milestone within one or two days. But we want to do more and more tests."

CSIR-NEIST director G. Narahari Sastry said, "We constructed this laboratory within 10 days. Ten scientists and 45 staff from NEIST will work in the centre."

The State Health Minister, along with ministers Atul Bora and Pijush Hazarika, MPs Kamakhya Prasad Tasa and Tapon Kumar Gogoi, also visited Jorhat Medical College and Hospital and the Kaziranga University Quarantine Centre and took stock of preparedness and facilities there.