The government officials on Sunday rushed to Karnatak University (KU) and took away the required equipment after the university authorities failed to respond to a request made by the district administration to handover some equipment to be installed at the isolation ward in the Karnataka Institute of Medical Sciences (KIMS).
A team of officials, led by assistant commissioner Mohemmed Zuber, went to Microbiology Department laboratory situated in the Geology Department building and took away the Leminar Airflow instrument following a direction from the district administration.
Zuber told DH that the KU authorities were approached in the morning after the request for the instrument came from KIMS doctors. "The university authorities were not cooperating with the district administration. Hence, we were directed to go to the department and secure the equipment” he said.
According to experts, the process of testing for Covid-19 involves three phases. In the first phase, the Ribo Nucleic Acid (RNA) is extracted from the swab or blood sample of patients by using specific kits and chemicals and in the second, it is converted into Complimentary DNA (C-DNA). In the third phase, the C-DNA is run with the help of RtPCR (Real-time Polymerase Chain Reaction) machine. It gives amplification if the result is positive. Otherwise, it does not give amplification, the experts said. After this, the Pathology Department announces the result of the test.
Karnatak Institute of DNA Research (KIDNAR), an autonomous institute with state-of-the-art facilities, could be used to conduct virology tests by just adding some more facilities. This will help to test the samples of people from 13 districts of north Karnataka fast, KIDNAR director Pramod Gai said.
“To do the diagnosis of viral disorders, like Covid 19 and other infectious diseases, it needs upgradation with some more equipment and lab. Already the Roche Company has prepared kits for RNA sequencing diagnosis containing primers and provided them to different virology testing labs. Along with this, we need RtPCR machine. All this will cost about Rs 50-60 lakh and we can start testing within a week”, Dr Gai said.