Aster DM Healthcare announced yesterday that Aster Clinical Lab LLP (Aster Labs), its diagnostics arm in India has started providing RT-PCR confirmatory test service for Covid-19 in Bengaluru.

Aster Labs has set up its Pathology reference laboratory at Queens Road, Bengaluru, which is fully equipped with advanced instruments to serve routine & specialized investigation e.g. Biochemistry, Haematology, Microbiology, Molecular Diagnostics, Cytogenetics, Digital Histopathology etc.

The company said that it has a state of the art molecular diagnostics department with accreditation from NABL and approval from ICMR, to start full-fledged testing of COVID-19 RT-PCR confirmatory test which remains a Gold Standards for Covid-19 testing.

The announcement comes at a time when Bengaluru is preparing to emerge from the lockdown and testing becomes essential to control the spread of Covid-19 infection through fast identification, quarantine, isolation and treatment.

The stock price has reacted positively to this news, rising 10% in the early trades to touch the 10% UC at Rs.104.50 and it is now quoted at Rs.100 levels, up some 5.5%.