The Viral Research Diagnostic Laboratory (VRDL), functioning at the North Bengal Medical College and Hospital (NBMCH) on the outskirts of Siliguri continues to hold the top slot in Bengal among all the labs conducting Covid-19 tests.

Now, the VRDL has become the first lab in the state to cross two lakh tests.

It is also one of the youngest of the over 90 laboratories of the state where the tests are being done. The VRDL started its journey from March 29.

According to the bulletin issued by the state health department on Friday (that showed Covid-19 related data till Thursday), the VRDL so far has 1,99,551 samples in the RT-PCR (real-time reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction) method.

“We have crossed the two-lakh mark. Our lab is also the first in the state that had crossed the one-lakh mark in August this year. Also, by June, we could test 50,000 samples only in 84 days,” said Arunava Sarkar, principal investigator of the lab at NBMCH.

Crediting “complete teamwork” for the stellar performance of this young lab, Sarkar attributed the feat to the efforts of his team members and support from the administration and the state.

Santanu Hazra, the in-charge of the lab, said the number of tests vary from 1,400 to 1,600 in a day.

“We have advanced equipment at the lab which is why we would be able to conduct more tests in a day. Among these include the RT-PCR machine, cartridge-based nucleic acid amplification test

(CBNAAT), TrueNat and the automated RNA extractor,” he said.

On Friday, a small celebration was held at the microbiology department, under which the lab functions, as authorities came to know that the lab crossed the two-lakh-testing mark. “It is indeed a success for all of us,” said a faulty member of NBMCH.

In August 2020, when the lab completed 1 lakh tests, it had not only topped Bengal but was also among the first three labs in India.