Government working to raise testing capacity to 25,000/day: Zafar

Special Assistant to the Prime Minister (SPAM) on Health, Dr Zafar Mirza Monday said the government is vigorously working to increase the coronavirus testing capacity from 3,000 daily to 25,000 daily, adding that within the next few weeks, Pakistan will start producing N95 masks for health professionals dealing with the COVID-19 patients.

Addressing a joint press conference along with Federal Minister Asad Umar here at the National Command and Operation Centre (NCOC), he said that in the coming days coronavirus testing shortage problems would be resolved, and it would be taken to 600,000 monthly.

Mirza said that the country was working on producing personal protective equipments (PPEs) required by medics exposed to the coronavirus in the country, adding that besides production of the PPEs, the country in the coming day would also start producing up to 100,000 N95 masks.

He also agreed with Asad Umar that testing, tracing and quarantining was an extremely effective way of not just defeating the COVID-19 but also for returning to normalcy. Mirza said that local transmission of the COVID-19 virus had increased to 52 percent.

"Look, we have only been testing symptomatic people so far. We are now expanding that circle, so that we can start contact-tracing effectively," he said. Mirza said that currently, Pakistan had the capability to test 600,000 people for the virus. By April 15, the country could test one million people.

He said that Pakistan had built 24 laboratories to conduct coronavirus tests and the total number of active laboratories in the country had increased to 34. Mirza also announced that the government currently had the capacity to conduct 600,000 tests, an amount which was expected to cross one million by mid-April.

He added that those testing kits would allow the government to meet its daily testing target of carrying out 20,000 to 25,000 tests by the end of April. "As we speak, we have 27 laboratories for testing and we will soon be constructing seven more labs," Mirza said.

The SAPM also announced that Pakistan would, in the coming weeks, be able to produce N-95 masks locally, and would not have to import them. Earlier, Federal Minister for Planning and Development Asad Umar said that tracing and then quarantining people who tested positive for the novel coronavirus would help in containing the pandemic.

Elaborating on what he meant by testing, tracing and quarantining, the minister explained that the government would first aim to conduct mass testing followed by constituting a system of extensive contact tracing, whereby, infected patients and all those who came in contact with them were quarantined.

Umar argued that by following this strategy, the government would be able to reopen essential sectors of the economy, which in turn would make the transition to complete normalcy smoother.

He said that a meeting of the National Coordination Committee (NCC) would be held today (Tuesday) in which chief ministers of all the provinces would take part. "The NCC meeting will decide on what measures to take across the country after April 15," he said.

"All decisions will be taken after consultations." The federal minister thanked the masses for cooperating with the government and ensuring that the partial lockdown across the country was effective. He urged businessmen to act responsibly as they were responsible for the safety of their employees.

He said the decision of opening the businesses would also be taken in Tuesday's meeting. "But the business owners and community will have to bear the responsibility of health of their workers," he maintained. "[A] country like Pakistan cannot afford to shut down everything to fight the war against coronavirus," the minister said.