Tamil Nadu government on Saturday said it has allowed five private laboratories to conduct swine flu tests as part of intensified efforts to contain the disease.
The laboratories, including three in the city and one each in Coimbatore and Tiruchirapalli, were allowed to conduct the tests, Health Secretary V K Subburaj said in a release here.
The laboratories are: Bharat Scans Private Limited, Hi-Tech Diagnostic Centre, Diagnostic Services, (all in Chennai), Micro Lab, Coimbatore and Dr Rath's Lab, Tiruchirapalli.
Subburaj said the government decided to allow private laboratories as people started thronging the King Institute -- the only authorised testing centre in Chennai -- for tests.
As a large number of people visited the King Institute on a daily basis, it took more time to provide them the results, he said.
Christian Medical College Hospital, Vellore, was the other testing centre in Tamil Nadu.
The government had set up a Committee to examine the facilities available in private laboratories and more such labs would be allowed to conduct the tests based on its report, he added.
Swine flu claimed its first victim in the state on August ten when a four-and-half-year-old boy succumbed to the disease at a private hospital here.
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