Virologist Minal Dakhave Bhosale managed to provide India’s first coronavirus testing kit for evaluation just a day before she delivered her daughter
Under her guidance, the team delivered the testing kit in a record time of six weeks
With the arrival of the first made-in-India testing kit for novel coronavirus in the market, another positive news poured in that has won hearts of thousands of people, including the chairman of Mahindra Group, Anand Mahindra, who have been waiting for a ray of hope in India’s fight against the infection.
According to a report by BBC, virologist Minal Dakhave Bhosale, who is the research and development chief of Mylab Discovery in Pune, the first Indian firm to get full approval to make and sell Covid-19 testing kits, managed to provide the testing kit for evaluation just a day before she delivered her daughter.
Her efforts paid the price with her team delivering the testing kit in a record time of six weeks. “It was an emergency, so I took this on as a challenge. I have to serve my nation,” said Minal Dakhave Bhosale to BBC.
“It was like giving birth to two babies,” Bhosale told PTI over the phone.
Bhosale, who headed the team that designed the coronavirus testing kit called Patho Detect, said it was done “in record time” – six weeks instead of three or four months, reported BBC.
Minal Dakhave Bhosale’s story became an inspiration to many, including industrialist Anand Mahindra, who earlier announced that his company would be manufacturing ventilators and converting Mahindra resorts into care facilities to fight against the pandemic outbreak.
“Ms Bhosale, you delivered not just the test kit and your baby, but you also delivered a ray of hope to the country. We stand and salute you…,” he tweeted.
The tweet garnered a lot of adulation and praise for the virologist with Twitter users posting encouraging notes for the article shared by Mahindra.
NITI Aayog CEO Amitabh Kant was also all praises for Bhosle, saying her story was “inspirational.”
Currently, the total coronavirus cases in India rose to 979, according to the latest figures released by Union Health Ministry. This includes 48 foreign nationals. The death toll has increased to 25. Meanwhile, 87 patients have been cured/discharged across the country. Maharashtra reported 186 coronavirus positive cases, followed by Kerala at 182 and Karnataka at 76.
Meanwhile, Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) has approved private labs for Covid-19 testing. The total number of government laboratories approved stand at 122, out of which 113 labs are already operational while the remaining 9 are in the process. The ICMR has also allowed 47 private labs to conduct Covid-19 tests across the country.
Source: Live Mint
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