KP's virus testing capacity reach 4,000 daily next month.

Byline: Ashfaq Yusufzai

PESHAWAR -- The health department has authorised three more laboratories, two private sector and one public sector, to conduct Covid-19 tests as part of the plan to scale up the province's testing capacity to 4,000 by middle of June.

'We have developed six laboratories in public sector at divisional level including that one each in Swat, Abbottabad, Dera Ismail Khan, Mardan, Bannu and Hayatabad Medical Complex Peshawar after formal authorisation process including lab development, machine installation, training and validation by the National Institute of Health (NIH).

'Two more laboratories in Dir and Kohat will start operations early next month,' Dr Asif Ali, the additional director of Public Health Reference Lab (PHRL) Khyber Medical University, told Dawn.

Health Secretary Syed Imtiaz Hussain Shah has been the moving soul behind improvement of diagnostic aspect of the Covid-19. Dr Amjad Mahboob is head of the clinical team for Covid-19, which has finally resulting into expansion of testing services in the province.

Three more labs authorised to conduct test

There are now 11 laboratories in the province including seven in public sector and four in private sector. The potential capacity of these laboratories is 2,500 to 3,000 tests per day.

Dr Asif, who is currently on special duty as public health lab consultant at health department for establishing Covid-19 laboratories in the province, has travelled 8,000-km across the province since April 8 to set up diagnostic centres at the public and private sectors as part of strategy to ensure early detection of Covid-19 cases and put brakes on the pandemic.

On Monday, health department authorised three more laboratories, two in private sector and one in public sector, enabling the people to get diagnosed at the local level.

The newly-authorised laboratories are in Rehman Medical Institute (RMI) Peshawar, Shaheen Jameel Hospital Abbottabad and Mardan Medical Complex, Mardan. Already two other private sector laboratories have been authorised to conduct Covid-19 tests after a province-wide survey.

'We have been involved in training and validation of the labs and have developed lab authorisation guidelines. Our guidelines have now been adopted and circulated by NIH with some additions for the whole country,' said Dr Asif.

The labs have been allowed on...