Mobile labs for COVID-19 testing to soon be available in Maha: CM

Maharashtra Chief Minister UddhavThackeray on Thursday said mobile laboratories for COVID-19testing will soon be made available across the state.

Speaking at the launch of three laboratory vans forCOVID-19 testing, Thackeray said these mobile laboratories cancarry out 3,000 tests per day and reports would be availablein 24 hours.

Tests will be conducted at the mobile labs for Rs 499,said Mumbai municipal commissioner I S Chahal who was presenton the occasion.

The mobile labs by Spice Heath, which are accreditedby the National Accreditation Board for Testing andCalibration Laboratories (NABL) and Indian Council of MedicalResearch (ICMR), have been set up at Bandra Kurla Complex,National Sports Club of India in Worli and NESCO in Goregaon.

Until last year, COVID-19 testing was done only in twolaboratories in Mumbai and Pune, but now there are more than500 laboratories, the chief minister said.

Mobile laboratories for COVID-19 testing will soon bemade available across the state, he said.

In the wake of the new strain of coronavirus found indifferent countries, the state government will continue toprioritise tracing and treatment of infected patients,Thackeray said.

''Even though the number of COVID-19 cases hasdeclined, tracing of patients and their contacts is important.

Companies like Spice Health have come forward as part of theirsocial responsibility to provide testing facilities,'' he said.

PTI MRARU ARU