A polymerase chain reaction (PCR) machine has been installed in the Microbiology Department's Laboratory of Bogra Shaheed Ziaur Rahman Medical College Hospital (SZRMCH) to ensure fast detection of coronavirus as cases are on the rise in the district.
The facility --which can detect 94 cases in a day-- is a gift from the Health Ministry and was put together by specialist doctors from the capital, said Brigadier General SMM Saleh Bhuiyan, director of SZRMCH, while inaugurating the facility on Monday morning.
The lab is able to operate 94 cases a day and produce results in every four hours, said SZRMCH Principal Rezaul Alam Jewel.
"The facility will begin its operation with minimum cases. Around 25 health professionals are on duty to facilitate the operation. Few of the necessary cases will be sent out to Rajshahi Medical College Hospital," added the official.
He said they will send out the reports to the Institute of Epidemiology Disease Control And Research (IEDCR) at the initial stage for further confirmation and after that, it will work in full force.
Bogra Civil Surgeon Dr Gausul Azim Chowdhury said the installation of the lab assured the previously panicked residents of the area, who would feel more secure now as the detection of the deadly disease will take lesser time.
He said: "We designated an Isolation Unit at the Mohammad Ali Hospital for the patients who test positive for the virus."
"Not only Bogra, but the facility can also prove to be advantageous for other adjacent districts' patients as well," the civil surgeon added.
