State government has decided to set up another Bio-Safety Laboratory 2 (BSL-2) in Tuensang district headquarter and also set up TrueNat testing facilities in all the districts.
Informing this during the daily briefing on Wednesday, state government spokesperson and minister Neiba Kronu said that the state government through the Medical department will undertake necessary procedures to seek technical clearance from the Centre and the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) to setup the BSL-2 in Tuensang.
Nagaland Governor, RN Ravi, Tuesday also emphasised the need for more Bio-Safety Level (BSL) laboratories in the state besides rigorous contact tracing.
Against the backdrop of recent COVID-19 positive cases reported in the state, the governor Tuesday reviewed the preparedness of the state at a meeting with senior officials including chief secretary Temjen Toy and additional chief secretary Sentiyanger Imchen.
What is TrueNat test
The Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) had recommended the use of the Truenat beta CoV test as a screening test for COVID-19 on 4th April 2020.
ICMR mentions that Truenat beta CoV test should only be performed with all biosafety precautions in BSL-2 or BSL-3 setups at designated laboratories.
The test — called the Truenat Beta CoV test — effectively enables same-day testing, reporting, and patient isolation initiation (if required). Officials say this is one of the few ICMR-approved tests to have been validated in a short period of time. Its battery-operated kits are the size of a telephone and can be taken out into the field to test as many as 15 individuals a day. They range between Rs. 6.5 lakh and Rs. 12 lakh and have received both government and ICMR approval.