Government puts in motion COVID-19 related research across country

National research labs have now been directed to carry out clinical testing for COVID-19 based on self-assessment and "willingness to follow established protocols and all applicable reporting regulations’’ as defined by DHRI/ICMR.

GOI puts in motion Covid-19 related research across the country

The Government of India has constituted an empowered committee in response to tackling the spread and find a possible cure for the COVID-19. (Reuters/File)

In response to tackling the spread and find a possible cure for the COVID-19, the Government of India has constituted an empowered committee co-chaired by Professor K Vijay Raghavan, Principal Scientific Advisor to the Indian Government and Dr. Vinod Paul, member of Niti Aayog.

The empowered committee, which held its first meeting today, has been set up to “coordinate among science agencies, scientists and regulatory bodies, and take speedy decisions on R&D related to SARS-CoV-2 virus and COVID-19.”

National research labs have now been directed to carry out clinical testing for COVID-19 based on self-assessment and “willingness to follow established protocols and all applicable reporting regulations’’ as defined by DHRI/ICMR.

These labs include those under Department of Biotechnology (DBT), Department of Science and Technology (DST), Council of Scientific & Industrial Research (CSIR), Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) and Department of Atomic Energy (DAE). The labs have further been permitted access to samples of COVID-19 for research from any government-approved clinical testing site or access clinical samples received by
them for testing, subject to ethical approval for such research.

“Clinical care agencies are directed to enrich the open dataset by providing de-identified clinical data,” says a statement issued by the PSA’s office today.

Labs with BSL-3 or BSL 3+ facilities, along with the DBT, DST, CSIR, DRDO and DAE are permitted to culture the virus and serve as additional testing and validation sites for research, based on self-assessment of BSL-3 facilities while following established protocol.

The labs have also been instructed to share their facilities, reagents and data and information regarding the virus to ensure “rapid solutions.” Hospitals will also have to now share their information and database with the scientific agencies and research labs, which includes in clinic sample collection.