Pakistan has 75-day capacity for conducting coronavirus tests

NDMA Chairman Lt-Gen Muhammad Afzal on Saturday said Pakistan had the capacity and equipment to conduct coronavirus tests for 75 days and the daily capacity to conduct tests could be raised to 30,000.

Talking to media persons after receiving the necessary equipment arrived from China, the NDMA chief said Chief of Army Staff Gen Qamar Javed Bajwa had allowed the use of military’s nine laboratories for the testing purpose.

Rejecting the impression that not enough tests are being conducted, he said only those who are showing the coronavirus symptoms were being tested currently. He, however, added that there was a need to make the process of collecting samples and testing efficient.

The NDMA chairman said there was no shortage of kits and machines, adding that the equipment being received from other countries would be distributed among the provinces on an equitable basis.

He said the Army was delivering the equipment directly to the hospitals. The goods had already reached the health facilities of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa while those in Punjab would get the same tomorrow (Sunday), he added.

Earlier, a PIA aircraft carrying 59 ventilators, 68,000 medical and 160,000 non-medical masks, 20,320 safety kits and other items reached Islamabad from China.