PESHAWAR: The Public Health Reference Laboratory at the Khyber Medical University, Peshawar, is going to halt testing for novel coronavirus (Covid-19) from May 15 over a lack of trained staff.

The development comes as the virus infects five KMU lab employees on Friday.

“We will discontinue working after May 15. Five staffers have tested positive for Covid-19 suggesting enhanced risk to rest of the staff. It warrants recruitment of dedicated and trained staff at the PHRL,” faculty members of the Institute of Basic Medical Sciences, one of the KMU’s institutes, told the vice-chancellor in a letter on Saturday.

Provincial Doctors’ Association chairman Dr Zubair Zahir, who provided a copy of the letter to Dawn, said chief secretary Dr Kazim Niaz had sanctioned Rs10 million in March for the start of Covid-19 tests by hiring staff from the market.

He, however, said the KMU’s administration posted the IBMS faculty members without lab experience there and thus, causing the spread of the virus.

PDA chief says IBMS faculty members sans lab experience posted to PHRL

He said an associate professor of physiology, Dr Inayat Khan, contracted the infection on Friday, while his father and mother tested positive for the virus afterward.

“We demand the hiring of dedicated staff for Covid-19 testing so that faculty members do research in their respective areas,” he said.

Dr Zubair wondered how the KMU could run a high-tech lab with the people, who were primarily required to teach anatomy, pharmacology and physiology.

“We’re scared of working in the PHRB but will stay put until May 15 in the best interest of the province. We won’t carry out tests thereafter,” he said.

In the letter titled ‘Hiring of dedicated and trained staff for PHRL operations’, the IBMS faculty members said they were asked by the VC in March to join the lab emergency duty and they all complied with the orders despite a lack of pandemic experience.

“We acknowledge the KMU commitment to the government and to the people during the pandemic, but hiring or arranging skilled personnel for PHRL to serve the purpose effectively and relive the IBMS faculty from irrelevant work enabling them to concentrate on teaching and research.

“The PHRL is an independent laboratory of the KP government and after its establishment at KMU, dedicated staff should have been hired since its creation in 2017,” the letter said.

The faculty members said the lab was located in IBMS but its status was independent.

They added that following the outbreak of coronavirus, the IBMS staff had made the PHRL functional by starting the PCR testing to handle Covid-19 cases.

“From the very start, the PHRL has been functioning round the clock carrying out tests and reporting without any let-up. Since the government has provided necessary funds for the lab operation, dedicated staff should be hired for further operations of the laboratory on a regular basis,” the letter said.

The faculty said it would work until the middle of May.

KMU vice-chancellor Prof Arshad Javaid told Dawn that the PCR lab became functional only after immaculate biosafety and infection control measures were taken.

“The KMU has a PhD biosafety officer, who has trained all staff members to ensure strict adherence to biosafety guidelines. All staff members working inside the lab wear appropriate personal protective equipment,” he said.

The VC said a hostel had been arranged on the KMU premises for technicians for infection control.

“The present episode is being investigated to pin down the source of infection. The index case, a naib qasid, was on a weekly shift duty. He is a local resident and goes to his village daily.

“Four of the five confirmed cases are support staff. Around 60 people work in the lab and only one is confirmed and he, too, was on leave for one week. We are now further strengthening the infection control measures. We don’t allow any irrelevant person to enter the KMU,” he said.

The VC said the KMU was inspected twice by the National Institute of Health and World Health Organisation teams during the last six weeks for quality and infection control and was found to be functioning well.

Published in Dawn, May 10th, 2020