With the spread of coronavirus not reined in as yet, there is panic about how to detect if one has the dreaded infection or not. Where does one get tested? Here’s all you wanted to know. The global count of the number of people affected by coronavirus or COVID-19 is climbing, adding to people’s worries and anxiety. Many want to know where to get tested if they want to know if they or a family member suspects a novel coronavirus infection.
The chief laboratory for COVID-19 sample testing is the Pune-based National Institute of Virology which is administrated by the Indian Council for Medical Research. At the state-level and the Union Territory-level, the government is providing COVID-19 testing at the 52 viral research and diagnostic laboratories (VRDL). People can’t directly go to these labs to get tests done, but have to be referred by the local government hospitals.
Here is a list of the pathological laboratories that have been authorised to carry out these tests.
COVID19 Testing Strategy in India:
There is currently no community transmission of COVID19. The disease is primarily reported in individuals with travel history to the affected countries or close contacts of positive cases. Therefore all individuals need not be tested
WHOM TO TEST:
Direct close physical contact of laboratory-confirmed positive case History of travel in the last 14 days to high-risk COVID affected countries
If both parameters above ticked:
Home quarantine for 14 days
If Symptomatic within 14 days, then Laboratory test is to be done. One must contact MoH&FW helpline for testing (+91-11-23978046). Throat swab + nasal swabs are taken in Viral Transport Medium in one tube in the cold chain.
In no symptoms, no test required. *Source: ICMR official website
52 testing sites for COVID ‐19
State/UT and the list of VRDLs
Andhra Pradesh 1. Sri Venkateswara Institute of Medical Sciences, Tirupati 2. Andhra Medical College, Visakhapatnam, Andhra Pradesh
Andaman & Nicobar islands 3. GMC, Anantapur, AP 4. Regional Medical Research Centre, Port Blair, Andaman and Nicobar
Assam 5. Gauhati Medical College, Guwahati 6. Regional Medical Research Center, Dibrugarh
Bihar 7. Rajendra Memorial Research Institute of Medical Sciences, Patna
Chandigarh 8. Post Graduate Institute of Medical Education & Research, Chandigarh
Chhattisgarh 9. All India Institute Medical Sciences, Raipur
Delhi-NCT 10. All India Institute Medical Sciences, Delhi 11. National Centre for Disease Control, Delhi
Gujarat 12. BJ Medical College, Ahmedabad 13. M.P.Shah Government Medical College, Jamnagar 14. Pt. B.D. Sharma Post Graduate Inst. of Med. Sciences, Rohtak, Haryana
Haryana 15. BPS Govt Medical College, Sonipat
Himachal Pradesh 16. Indira Gandhi Medical College, Shimla, Himachal Pradesh 17. Dr.Rajendra Prasad Govt. Med. College, Kangra, Tanda, HP
Jammu and Kashmir 18. Sher‐e‐ Kashmir Institute of Medical Sciences, Srinagar 19. Government Medical College, Jammu
Jharkhand 20. MGM Medical College, Jamshedpur
Karnataka 21. Bangalore Medical College & Research Institute, Bangalore 22. National Institute of Virology Field Unit Bangalore 23. Mysore Medical College & Research Institute, Mysore 24. Hassan Inst. of Med. Sciences, Hassan, Karnataka 25. Shimoga Inst. of Med. Sciences, Shivamogga, Karnataka
Kerala 26. National Institute of Virology Field Unit, Kerala 27. Govt. Medical College, Thriuvananthapuram, Kerala 28. Govt. Medical College, Kozhikhode, Kerala
Madhya Pradesh 29. All India Institute Medical Sciences, Bhopal 30. National Institute of Research in Tribal Health (NIRTH), Jabalpur
Meghalaya 31. NEIGRI of Health and Medical Sciences, Shillong, Meghalaya
Maharashtra 32. Indira Gandhi Government Medical College, Nagpur 33. Kasturba Hospital for Infectious Diseases, Mumbai
Manipur 34. J N Inst. of Med. Sciences Hospital, Imphal‐East, Manipur
Odisha 35. Regional Medical Research Center, Bhubaneswar
Puducherry 36. Jawaharlal Institute of Postgraduate Medical Education & Research, Puducherry
Punjab 37. Government Medical College, Patiala, Punjab 38. Government Medical College, Amritsar
Rajasthan 39. Sawai Man Singh, Jaipur 40. Dr. S.N Medical College, Jodhpur 41. Jhalawar Medical College, Jhalawar, Rajasthan 42. SP Med. College, Bikaner, Rajasthan
Tamil Nadu 43. King’s Institute of Preventive Medicine & Research, Chennai 44. Government Medical College, Theni
Tripura 45. Government Medical College, Agartala
Telangana 46. Gandhi Medical College, Secunderabad
Uttar Pradesh 47. King’s George Medical University, Lucknow 48. Institute of Medical Sciences, Banaras Hindu University, Varanasi 49. Jawaharlal Nehru Medical College, Aligarh
Uttarakhand 50. Government Medical College, Haldwani
West Bengal 51. National Institute of Cholera and Enteric Diseases, Kolkata 52. IPGMER, Kolkata
Apart from the above 52 labs, there are 57 laboratories for helping in sample collection for COVID ‐19
State/UT LIST OF VRDLs
Andhra Pradesh 1. Siddhartha Medical College, Vijayawada 2. Rajeev Gandhi Institute of Medical Sciences, Kadapa 3. Rangaraya Medical College, Kakinada 4. Guntur Medical College, Guntur
Assam 5. Silchar Medical College, Silchar 6. Jorhat Medical College, Jorhat 7. Tezpur Medical College, Tezpur 8. Fakhruddin Medical College, Barpeta
Bihar 9. Patna Medical College, Patna 10. Darbhanga Medical College, Darbhanga 11. S K Medical College, Muzaffarpur
Chandigarh 12. Government Medical College & Hospital, Chandigarh
Chhattisgarh 13. Late Sri BaliramKashyap Memorial Govt. Medical College, Jagdalpur
Delhi‐NCT 14. Lady Hardinge Medical College, New Delhi
Gujarat 15. Government Medical College, Surat 16. GMC, Bhavnagar 17. PDU GMC, Rajkot 18. Government Medical College & SSG Hospital, Vadodara
Jammu and Kashmir 19. Government Medical College, Srinagar
Jharkhand 20. Rajendra Institute of Medical Sciences, Ranchi
Karnataka
21. Vijayanagar Institute of Medical Science, Bellary 22. Gulbarga Institute Of Medical Sciences, Gulbarga
Kerala 23. Government Medical College, Thrissur
Ladakh 24. Sonam Namgyal Memorial Hospital, Leh
Madhya Pradesh 25. Bundelkhand Medical College, Sagar 26. MGM Medical College, Indore 27. Gajra Raja Medical College, Gwalior 28. S.S Medical College, Rewa
Maharashtra 29. Government Medical College, Miraj, Sangli 30. Seth GS Medical College & KEM Hospital, Mumbai 31. Government Medical College, Nagpur 32. Government Medical College, Aurangabad 33. V. M. Government Medical College, Solapur 34. Shri Bhausaheb Hire Government Medical College, Dhule 35. Government Medical College and Hospital & Superspeciality Hospital, Akola
Manipur 36. Regional Institute of Medical Sciences, Imphal
Odisha 37. SCB Medical College, Cuttack
Puducherry 38. Indira Gandhi Medical College & Research Institute, Puducherry
Rajasthan 39. RNT Medical College, Udaipur 40. AIIMS, Jodhpur
Tamil Nadu 41. Madurai Medical College, Madurai 42. Government Mohan Kumaramangalam Medical College, Salem 43. Government Medical College, Thiruvarur 44. Government Medical College, Villupuram 45. Tirunelveli Medical College, Tirunelveli 46. Coimbatore Medical College, Coimbatore 47. Madras Medical College, Chennai, Tamil Nadu
Telangana 48. Osmania Medical College, Hyderabad 49. Kakatiya Medical College, Nizampura, Warangal
Uttar Pradesh 50. UPUMS,(Formerly UPRIMS) Saifai
Uttarakhand 51. AIIMS, Rishikesh 52. Doon Government Medical College, Dehradun
West Bengal 53. Murshidabad Medical College & Hospital, Murshidabad, Berhampur, West Bengal 54. Midnapore Medical College & Hospital, Midnapore 55. North Bengal Medical College, Darjeeling 56. Malda Medical College, Malda 57. RG Kar Medical College, Kolkata
