To ramp up COVID-19 tests at the Viral Research and Diagnostic Laboratories (VRDL) in the 14 medical colleges in the State, Health Minister Alla Kali Krishna Srinivas has given his nod for appointment of 113 additional technical staff.
As part of the key decisions taken by the Group of Ministers appointed by the government to control the spread of the virus, the Minister cleared the way for appointment of additional staff on contract basis for a period of six months.
The move will facilitate increased number of Reverse Transcription Polymerase Chain Reaction (RTPCR) tests at the VRDLs on a daily basis.
The government had in the past recruited 533 staff in three phases to conduct the tests in the medical colleges. In addition, 113 more technical staff had been added now.
The Minister said the idea was to ramp up the tests and produce the result in the shortest possible time.
The VRDLs are equipped with research scientists, research assistants, lab technicians, data entry operators and office subordinates.
“At present, more than 40,000 RTPCR tests are being conducted daily. With the recruitment of additional staff, the number of these tests can be increased to more than 60,000,” he said.
The Minister said the number of TruNat testing would also be increased in the days to come. The RTPCR tests would be conducted at all the government medical colleges in the State, besides two private medical colleges – Asram Medical College in Eluru and Maharaja Medical College in Vizianagaram, he added.
