With Covid-19 claiming its third victim and the number of reported cases across the country almost touching 150, the Indian Council for Medical Research is ramping up the country’s testing capacity to contain the pandemic, which is in its second phase in India.
Besides the 62 testing centres in the country (see map), the ICMR plans to tap into government-run Virus Research and Diagnostic Labs (VRDLs) as well as 51 private laboratories accredited to the National Accreditation Board for Testing and Calibration Laboratories (NABLs).
According to the ICMR, there are presently 62 testing centres in India, with the National Centre for Disease Control (NCDC), Delhi, acting as the 63rd centre. While nine VRDLs are being prepared to supplement testing capacity, the rest of the network is assisting in sample collection.
| As of March 17, a total of 12,513 samples from 11,263 individuals have been tested for SARS-CoV2 (coronavirus), the Indian Council for Medical Research says. Out of these 129 people tested positive. The same number is pegged at 137 by the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare and 142 by independent monitoring agencies such as indiacovid19.org and John Hopkins University’s coronavirus tracker. |
The following is a map of ICMR-designated coronavirus testing centres in India.
[flexiblemap src=”http://data.opencity.in/Data/Coronavirus-Testing-Centres-in-India-3.kml” width=”100%” height=”500px” ]
| State | S.NO | City | Centre | Total Cases (Deaths)** |
| Delhi (2) | 1 | New Delhi | All India Institute Medical Sciences (AIIMS) | 8 (1) |
| 2 | New Delhi | National Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) | ||
| Maharashtra (3) | 3 | Nagpur | Indira Gandhi Government Medical College | 39 (1) |
| 4 | Mumbai | National Institute of Virology (Enterovirus Research Centre) | ||
| 5 | Mumbai | Kasturba Hospital for Infectious Diseases | ||
| Rajasthan (5) | 6 | Jaipur | Sawai Man Singh Hospital | 4 (0) |
| 7 | Jodhpur | Dr. S.N. Medical College | ||
| 8 | Jhalawar | Jhalawar Medical College | ||
| 9 | Bikaner | SP Medical College | ||
| 10 | Udaipur | RNT Medical College | ||
| Tamil Nadu (4) | 11 | Chennai | King’s Institute of Preventive Medicine and Research | 1 (0) |
| 12 | Theni | Government Medical College | ||
| 13 | Tirunelveli | Tirunelveli Medical College | ||
| 14 | Thiruvaru | Government Medical College | ||
| Uttar Pradesh (3) | 15 | Lucknow | King’s George Medical University | 15 (0) |
| 16 | Varanasi | Institute of Medical Sciences, Banaras Hindu University | ||
| 17 | Aligarh | Jawaharlal Nehru Medical College | ||
| Uttarakhand (1) | 18 | Haldwani | Government Medical College | 1 (0) |
| West Bengal (2) | 19 | Kolkata | National Institute of Cholera and Enteric Diseases | |
| 20 | Kolkata | IPGMER | ||
| Madhya Pradesh (2) | 21 | Bhopal | All India Institute Medical Sciences (AIIMS) | 0 (0) |
| 22 | Jabalpur | National Institute of Research in Tribal Health (NIRTH) | ||
| Kerala (4) | 23 | Alappuzha | National Institute of Virology, Vandanam | 26 (0) |
| 24 | Thriuvananthapuram | Government Medical College | ||
| 25 | Kozhikhode | Government Medical College | ||
| 26 | Thrissur | Government Medical College | ||
| Karnataka (5) | 27 | Bengaluru | Bangalore Medical College and Research Institute | 11 (1) |
| 28 | Bengaluru | National Institute of Virology | ||
| 29 | Mysore | Mysore Medical College and Research Institute | ||
| 30 | Hassan | Hassan Institute of Medical Sciences | ||
| 31 | Shivmogga | Shimoga Institute of Medical Sciences | ||
| Gujarat (2) | 32 | Ahmedabad | BJ Medical College | 0 (0) |
| 33 | Jamnagar | M.P. Shah Government Medical College | ||
| Harayana (2) | 34 | Sonipat | BPS Government Medical College | 15 (0) |
| 35 | Rohtak | Pandit BD Sharma PG Institute of Medical Sciences | ||
| Himachal Pradesh (2) | 36 | Shimla | Indira Gandhi Medical College | 0 (0) |
| 37 | Kangra | Dr. Rajendra Prasad Government Medical College | ||
| Jammu and Kashmir* (3) | 38 | Srinagar | Sher-I-Kashmir Institute of Medical Sciences | 9 (0) |
| 39 | Srinagar | Government Medical College | ||
| 40 | Jammu | Government Medical College | ||
| Jharkhand (1) | 41 | Jamshedpur | MGM Medical College | 0 (0) |
| Meghalaya (1) | 42 | Shillong | NEIGRI of Health and Medical Sciences | 0 (0) |
| Manipur (2) | 43 | Manipur | JN Institute of Medical Sciences Hospital | 0 (0) |
| 44 | Imphal | Regional Institute of Medical Sciences | ||
| Odisha (1) | 45 | Bhubaneshwar | Regional Medical Research Center | 1 (0) |
| Punjab (2) | 46 | Patiala | Government Medical College | 1 (0) |
| 47 | Amritsar | Government Medical College | ||
| Puducherry (1) | 48 | Puducherry | JIPMER Hospital | |
| Telangana (2) | 49 | Secunderabad | Gandhi Medical College | 5 (0) |
| 50 | Hyderabad | Osmania Medical College | ||
| Tripura (1) | 51 | Agartala | Government Medical College | 0 (0) |
| Bihar (1) | 52 | Patna | Rajendra Memorial Research Institute of Medical Sciences | 0 (0) |
| Chandigarh (1) | 53 | Chandigarh | Post Graduate Institute of Medical Education and Research | 0 (0) |
| Chhattisgarh (1) | 54 | Raipur | All India Institute Medical Sciences (AIIMS) | 0 (0) |
| Andaman and Nicobar Islands (1) | 55 | Port Blair | Regional Medical Research Center | 0 (0) |
| Andhra Pradesh (4) | 56 | Tirupati | Sri Venkateswara Institute of Medical Sciences | 1 (0) |
| 57 | Anantapur | GMC | ||
| 58 | Vijayawada | Sidhartha Medical College | ||
| 59 | Kakinada | Rangaraya Medical College | ||
| Assam (4) | 60 | Guwahati | Gauhati Medical College | 0 (0) |
| 61 | Dibrugarh | Regional Medical Research Center | ||
| 62 | Silchar | Silchar Medical College | ||
| 63 | Jorhat | Jorhat Medical College | ||
| Total | 137 (3) |
*Jammu and Kashmir listed as Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir and Union Territory of Ladakh by MoHFW || ** Number of cases and casualty figures in the last column are as of 8:00 am on March 18th
Sources – ICMR and Ministry of Health and Family Welfare
Who should get tested?Not everyone can be tested by government VRDLs. The ICMR has laid out specific inclusion criteria, which has been reiterated by government agencies:
If you think you or someone you know should get tested, call the State Helpline Number or Ministry of Health & Family Welfare, Government of India’s 24×7 helpline 011-2397 8046. Otherwise, considering approaching a private healthcare professional for further guidance. The government is currently in stage 2 of its response and these criteria are likely to change if the response escalates. Sources – ICMR Circulars and Ministry of Health and Family Welfare |