KARACHI: A biosafety laboratory at Dr Panjwani Centre for Molecular Medicine and Drug Research (PCMD), Karachi University (KU), has been transformed into a large Covid-19 testing facility.

Part of the National Institute of Virology established last year with federal support, the facility is the largest biosafety level-III laboratory in the country.

“The lab is testing hundreds of samples being provided by the health department daily,” said Prof Iqbal Choudhary at a meeting held on Thursday on the campus. He oversees the affairs of the institute as the director of International Centre for Chemical and Biological Sciences at the KU.

The lab’s conversion into a diagnostic facility was done on chief minister’s instructions, he added.

The diagnostic capacity for testing Covid-19 infection has been significantly widened in the province with the operation of the biosafety lab.

Published in Dawn, May 22nd, 2020