KHUZDAR: A PCR (polymerase chain reaction) machine has been installed at the laboratory of Khuzdar Teaching Hospital to provide Covid-19 testing facility to the people of Khuzdar and neighbouring districts, it was announced on Sunday.

The PCR machine, which has been provided by the World Health Organisation (WHO), is a valuable addition to the Balochistan’s testing capacity that was earlier limited to the provincial capital and its suburbs only.

These views were expressed by Dr Ahmed Wali, focal person of the provincial health department, while talking to reporters on Sunday.

He said a team of technical experts that he headed had just completed the installation of the PCR machine, provided by the WHO, at the tuberculosis laboratory under the TB Control Programme at the Khuzdar Teaching Hospital.

He said the people of the district and nearby areas would have the facility to get tested for coronavirus in Khuzdar.

“With the introduction of PCR testing in the district, there has been a significant increase in testing capacity in the province, which has made it possible for the people of Khuzdar and surrounding districts to undergo coronavirus testing. Earlier, this facility was available only in Quetta and peripheries,” he said.

On the special directives of Balochistan Health Secretary Dostain Khan Jamaldini, the PCR machine at the TB lab in Khuzdar had started conducting tests for Covid-19, Dr Wali added.

PCR test is used to diagnose the Covid-19 disease, caused by the novel coronavirus. The test uses a sample of mucus taken from a person’s nose or throat. It looks for the genetic material of Covid-19. The test uses the method of polymerase chain reaction, which greatly amplifies the viral genetic material if it is present. That material is detectable when a person is actively infected.

“Khuzdar Commissioner Mudassir Waheed Malik, Director General Dr Saleem Abro, Dr Nadeem Samad, Dr Babar Alam, Dr Somar Khan, DHO and the technical staff of TB Control Programme have played a key role in this [installation],” he added.

Published in Dawn, June 15th, 2020