Fed govt decides to import coronavirus testing kits amid rising cases

ISLAMABAD: The federal government has decided to import coronavirus testing kits aimed at improving the testing capability amid surge in tally of the confirmed patients that has now reached upto 18 across Pakistan, ARY NEWS reported.

According to sources, the National Institute of Health (NIH) Islamabad received 30 testing kits on Tuesday, provided by the World Health Organization (WHO).

“The institute will receive 100 more kits during the ongoing month,” they said adding that one kit is able to conduct test on 50 patients.

The sources further said that other than Islamabad, the testing kits are also available in major centres of the country including Karachi, Lahore, Quetta and Peshawar.

“The government has also decided to provide testing facility in Gilgit Baltistan and it would be operational by this month,” they said adding that currently the samples are conveyed to NIH Islamabad for tests.

Yesterday, around 12,000 coronavirus testing kits arrived from China at Jinnah International Airport, Karachi.

Japan has also donated ten coronavirus testing kits to Pakistan on February 05 which were then handed over to officials of the National Institute of Health (NIH).

The kits were made available on a request by the Government of Pakistan. Each testing kit costs US$2,000.

Earlier in the day, Special Assistant to Prime Minister on National Health Services Dr Zafar Mirza said that they were fully prepared to deal with any emergency situation.

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Chairing a meeting of the emergency core group for the coronavirus preparedness and response, Mr Mirza said that they were making joint efforts in collaboration with the provincial governments to prevent the spread of coronavirus in the country.

As part of the preventive measures against the spread of novel coronavirus, all the passengers arriving in the country are being moved into quarantine for complete screening, he added.

Zafar Mirza said that they were providing the data of all the people arriving in the country to the provincial governments. He said that they were complying with the directions of the International Heath Regulation.