The authorities have completed the installation of the polymerase chain reaction (PCR) machine - a requisite for the ‘gold standard’ method of testing for COVID-19- at the Microbiology Department of Cumilla Medical College and Hospital.
An expert team from Dhaka will be visiting Cumilla to train a set of healthcare professionals - including physicians, nurses and technologists - in the various steps of the testing process, reports UNB.
There is the issue of reagents used in the process that have to be applied in a very precise mix.
The collection of samples for the test is also not very straightforward, requiring a nasal or throat swab, from the nose and the back of the throat respectively.
Provided all goes well, the PCR machine can identify the presence of live virus particles, and the viral load.
Prof. Mostafa Kamal Azad of Cumilla Medical College, said the training can be completed in time for testing to be launched at the facility “in the last week of April”.
Some 90-96 samples can be tested by the machine per shift, and CMCH authorities are looking at running two shifts each day.
Samples will be collected by the healthcare workers under the Cumilla Sadar Hospital, Cumilla City Corporation and the officials concerned of the upazilas, he said.