India’s first mobile virology lab to speed up Covid-19 tests has been set up in Hyderabad.

Defence Minister of India, Rajnath Singh, along with Union minister of state for home affairs G. Kishan Reddy, launched the lab through video conference from New Delhi. State IT Minister KTR also took part in the inauguration ceremony, virtually.

According to a report, the lab is built as per World Health Organisation (WHO) and Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) biosafety standards to meet international guidelines. The system has built-in electrical controls, LAN, telephone cabling, and CCTVs.

The Defence Minister lauded the setting up of this biosafety Level 2 and Level 3 lab in a record time of 15 days which usually takes about half a year.

The new laboratory can process 1,000-2,000 samples in a day and can be can be positioned anywhere in the country as per requirement, the statement reported.

Along with testing of Covid-19 samples, the lab will also aid in virus culturing for drug screening, convalescent plasma derived therapy, comprehensive immune profiling of Covid-19 patients towards vaccine development and early clinical trials specific to Indian population.