Minal Dakhave Bhosale, Woman Behind First Made in India COVID-19 Testing Kit, Delivered Her Baby after Successfully Doing Duty

Pune, March 28: An Indian virologist of Pune-based molecular diagnostics company Mylab Discovery Solutions, delivered a baby hours after delivering the country’s first coronavirus testing kit. Minal Dakhave Bhosale headed the team that designed the COVID-19 testing kit called “Patho Detect”. Minal gave birth to a baby girl last week. The work on the programme to make testing kits began in February this year.

According to a report published in BBC News, in spite of a pregnancy complication, Minal began working on the kits last month. She submitted the kit to the National Institute of Virology (NIV) for evaluation on March 18. A day after submitting the kits, Minal gave birth to the baby girl. “It was an emergency, so I took this on as a challenge. I have to serve my nation,” reported the UK-based media quoting Minal as saying. MyLab Discovery's First 'Made In India' COVID-19 Test Kit Gets Commercial Approval.

On the evening of March 18, an hour before Minal was taken to a hospital, she also submitted the proposal to the Indian FDA and the CDSCO for commercial approval. The CDSCO is a drug control authority.

The first Indian made kit reached the market on Thursday. The cost of each kit is Rs 1,200, which one-third than what India pays for imported kits. The Indian kit can test 100 samples.

India witnessed a steep rise in the number of COVID-19 cases. Till now, 873 people have been tested positive for the deadly virus. Twenty people also lost their lives. Maximum number cases were reported in Kerala, where over 175 people were tested positive.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Mar 28, 2020 01:01 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).