The novel coronavirus has hit out country due to which over 1000 people have been infected with the virus that evolved from China's Wuhan city. India has been locked down as a preventive measure and people are being asked to stay indoors to protect themself from the pandemic. To get oneself checked at home, India has not got its own test kit through which the test can be done in just under 10 minutes. The test recognized by the National Institute of Virology (NIV) Pune under the virologist Minal Dakhave Bhosale has been achieving accolades.
As per BBC, Minal is the chief of the research and development of Mylab Discovery in Pune which the first Indian company to make and sell COVID-19 testing kits. The test kit which costs Rs 1200 can test 100 samples. Interestingly, she delivered her daughter a day after submitting the kit for evaluation by the National Institute of Virology on March 18. She told BBC, "It was an emergency, so I took this on as a challenge. I have to serve my nation."
She told Hindustan Times, "We have achieved COVID-19 testing in only two-and-a-half hours compared to other tests which are six-seven hours. We did this by utilizing our expertise of development processes and FAST mode acting reagents."
Minal has been achieving appreciation for her work by many celebrities. Soni Razdan shared her story on Instagram. Not only this, industrialist Anand Mahindra, who pledged to help against the pandemic by manufacturing ventilators and converting Mahindra resorts into care facilities tweeted about Minal and wrote, "Ms Bhosale, you delivered not just the test kit and your baby, but you also delivered a ray of hope to the country. We stand and salute you...