Drap has received two locally-made coronavirus testing kits: minister.

Byline: Jamal Shahid

ISLAMABAD -- The Drug Regulatory Authority of Pakistan (Drap) has received two more coronavirus testing kits, one of which can generate results in 45 minutes, Minister for Science and Technology Fawad Chaudhry told a press briefing on Wednesday.

'The testing kits have been sent by a local company. Approval of such kits requires 300 tests in the laboratory and another 500 in the field,' he told the press.

According to the minister the PCR kits, developed by National University of Science and Technology (Nust) have been approved and will be commercially produced from today.

'We are making our own personal protective equipment (PPE) in Pakistan. Faisalabad Textile University has been made independent for production of cotton masks; Pakistan has also started making N95 masks,' he said.

Pakistan Standards and Quality Control Authority (PSQCA) under the Ministry of Science and Technology has been linked with European and American institutions to improve standards of Pakistani manufactured coronavirus fighting gear.

'Today we are exporting 100,000,000 orders of coded material. Ventilators will increase this; the first batch of ten ventilators have been developed by National Radio and Telecommunication Corporation [NRTC]. On his return from Lahore, the prime...