COVID-19 Warriors of GADVASU, Ludhiana
By Raju William
Ludhiana, April 23, 2020: Stepping in to support and strengthen the medical community, Guru Angad Dev Veterinary & Animal Sciences University (GADVASU), Ludhiana has joined the war against deadly COVID-19 by offering expert services and skills of its scientists.
Ten scientists from the university have been deputed in different medical colleges of state. Split into two teams they are performing their duty with dedication and passion to serve humanity during the pandemic by providing diagnostic facilities.
Drs Rajnish Sharma, Mudit Chandra, JS Arora, Neeraj Singh, Harsh Pawar and Omar Khaleel Baba have joined duty at Medical College, Patiala, while Drs Mohan Jairath, Deepali, Jaspreet Kaur and Ms Astha Sharma for Medical College, Amritsar as COVID warriors.
Dr. A.S. Nanda, Vice-Chancellor, GADVASU informed that the university epidemiologists are monitoring COVID–19 disease scenario in the country and we are hopeful to come out with containment plans at the national level shortly. "It is a matter of pride and honour for the our university to shoulder responsibility in such testing time for the state and country," he added.
The situation of COVID 19 is alarming across the globe and Punjab is no exception. As per the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Government of Punjab, 245 total confirmed cases and 16 total deaths have been reported as of on 21st April 2020. The state government has tested 6607 suspected individuals. Successful containment of this disease demands testing more and more suspected individuals.
The World Health Organisation has recommended two diagnostic tests ‘Genesig Real-Time PCR Coronavirus’ (COVID-19) and ‘Cobas SARS-CoV-2 Qualitative’ (assay for use on the cobas® 6800/8800 Systems) for diagnosing this disease. However, the capacity, capability and expertise required to conduct these diagnostic tests is quite limited in the state. These diagnostic tests are ticklish and could not be conducted in many of the medical laboratories operating in the Punjab state.
According to Dr. JPS Gill, Director, Research GADVASU, Under such situation and emergency, besides providing two real-time PCR testing machines, the university has also trained medical support staff in conducting these diagnostic tests. GADVASU is equipped with well-established Research labs in the field of Animal Biotechnology, Virology, Cell Culture and Disease Epidemiology. GADVASU have standardised the testing facilities and it routinely undertakes these sophisticated tests for Livestock, Poultry, and Fisheries that is the reason why it is ranked as the number one state veterinary university of the country.