Belagavi CVOID-19 test lab stuck for approval at NABL

Jawaharlal Nehru Medical College, a Constituent Unit of KLE Academy of Higher Education and Research Belagavi had applied for establishing a Covid-19 testing facility after the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) had invited applications from all government and private medical colleges but as per the report in the Deccan Herald, JNMC needs to submit NABL accreditation for testing respiratory viruses. Nut it is stuck with its inability to reach National Accreditation Board for Testing and Calibration Laboratories (NABL) due to the lockdown, the report added.

Belagavi district already has 10 positive cases and all samples are sent to Bengaluru or Shivamogga. The lab at KIMS Hubballi has commenced work already but the lab in Belagavi is yet to commence operations.

Dr M V Jaali, Medical Director, Dr Prabhakar Kore Hospital attached to JN Medical College, said, “NABL officials are not receiving our calls. The NABL officials said we can get the accreditation online. Then they said they will see the machine through video conferencing.

“Later, a clause was added that unless we test for a respiratory infection like H1N1 with the machine, we cannot get the approval. We’ve got the kit from the local market, the RT-PCR machine is lying with us for 10 days. We’ve exhausted all efforts to get NABL to talk to us”, Deccan Herald has reported.

Source: All About Belgaum (www.allaboutbelgaum.com)