India’s First mobile COVID-testing laboratory installed
Part of: GS-Prelims and GS-II – Health
In News:
India has set up its first mobile testing laboratory in a bid to meet the growing demand to conduct coronavirus disease (COVID-19) tests.
Key takeaways
The mobile laboratory, with on-site Elisa, RtPCR & Bio-chem analysers, was created within eight days by a team from Andhra Pradesh MedTech Zone Limited.
The laboratory can be deployed at remote and inaccessible areas in the country, where there is no such facility.
The laboratory belongs to the biosafety level 2 (BSL-II) category.
Important value additions
Biosafety Levels
BSLs are ranked from one to four.
They are categorised on the basis of the organisms that the researchers are dealing with.
The organisms include viruses, bacteria, fungi, parasites, etc.
SARS-CoV-2, which causes Covid-19, belongs to the BSL-II category.
BSL-I is considered to be the least hazardous, while BSL-IV poses the maximum safety risk.
Each level builds on the previous category, adding more layers of constraints and barriers.
