Delhi Lab Chain Offers "Drive Through" Coronavirus Test

An NABL-accredited diagnostic laboratory in the city has come up with an innovative step for testing suspected coronavirus-infected people without having them to queue up before hospitals and coming in contact with anyone.

Named "drive through test", the procedure for ICMR-confirmed test has been designed by Dr Dangs Lab, a West Delhi-based diagnostic lab.

It entails the suspected patients reaching the laboratory's parking lot in his vehicle with a trained paramedic waiting to collect his sample with the patient sitting in his car and driving back home in just over 10 minutes.

Dr Dangs Lab (DDL), which is a diagnostic lab accredited with National Accreditation Board for Testing and Calibration Laboratories, has three centres in the city -- one each in Jor Bagh, Punjabi Bagh and on Aurobondo Marg, besides a fourth one in Gurgaon.

The innovative test facility, however, is presently being offered by only its Punjabi Bagh centre in West Delhi.

The laboratory has begun to offer the "drive-through" tests from Monday, said DDL's CEO Arjun Dang, adding the test conforms to the Indian Council for Medical Research (ICMR) guidelines.

"The drive-through test is inspired by two factors -- there are countries like South Korea which have conducted the test successfully and it ensures maximum safety for patient and staff," he told PTI.

Explaining about the test, he said one can register for it online by uploading a government ID and the doctor's prescription and will be given a time slot.

The patient will also have to share the vehicle number in which he intends to reach the lab.

Once the patient arrives in the parking lot of the lab, the staff, equipped with all the safety kits, will collect the sample with the patient sitting in his car itself.

All that the suspected patient has to do is to tilt back his head a bit and open his mouth to enable the paramedic to collect the swab sample from his throat and then another one from nose, explained Mr Dang.