The facility for genome sequencing to identify new variants of SARS-CoV-2 has been started at Sawai Man Singh Government Medical College here, making Rajasthan the first State in the country to have such a provision for complete sequencing at the State level.
Health Minister Raghu Sharma said here on Friday that the facility had been made available in the State at a cost of ₹1 crore for getting information about new variants of the virus. The samples from the State were so far being sent to the Institute of Genomics and Integrative Biology’s laboratory in New Delhi.
Ten samples per day, or 300 in a month, were being sent to the laboratory, set up for Rajasthan by the Indian Council of Medical Research, as per the fixed limit. Mr. Sharma said the reports were not being received from the lab on time.
The machine installed at SMS Medical College has started functioning from June 15 with the capacity to test 20 samples a day, while the report is received in three to four days.
COMMents
SHARE