Hyderabad, The University of Hyderabad (UoH) has been chosen by the central government to add to the COVID-19 testing capabilities in Telangana. Selected to be part of the city cluster established for the region, the premier university will handle COVID-19 testing operations in a separate laboratory located at the Center for DNA Fingerprinting and Diagnostics (CDFD).

The UoH will be part of the city cluster comprising of Center for DNA Fingerprinting and Diagnostics (CDFD), CSIR-Centre for Cellular Molecular Biology (CSIR-CCMB), National Institute of Animal Biotechnology (NIAB), and CSIR-Indian Institute of Chemical Technology (CSIR-IICT). The CSIR-CCMB is the coordinating institution for Hyderabad.

"I am happy that UoH has been identified as a Testing Centre being a Top Research and teaching University and we have the facilities and manpower to carry out the tests. Our university along with CDFD is geared to effectively handle the laid down procedures for COVID-19 testing. Its a privilege for UoH to be of help to the nation during this testing times", said Prof Appa Rao Podile, Vice-Chancellor, UoH.

The City or Regional clusters of testing centres are being set up to scale up the testing capacity, and will serve the city and state in testing of COVID-19 samples.

UoH will immediately identify 15 technical personnel for data entry, sample sorting, liquoting and coordination with other testing labs. It will be ready for testing operations once the ICMR Approved Testing Kits and required reagents are made available by the coordinating institution in Hyderabad.

UoH will be conducting these tests at a separate BSL-2 laboratory at CDFD. The volunteers will undergo training for 1A days at CCMB, before undertaking the actual testing.