LAHORE: Punjab Health Minister Dr Yasmin Rashid said on Tuesday that seven laboratories of level-3 were currently functional in the province to conduct tests of COVID-19 suspected patients.
Addressing a press conference about the pandemic situation in the province here, she said that work was also in progress to build three more labs to enhance the testing capability of coronavirus suspects.
“Consultations are also underway with different experts from LUMS, Harvard, MIT and other Academic organizations to control the spread of the virus and devise future strategies.
She said that no country of the world was conducting elective testing, adding that targeted groups or smart sampling would be considered for testing.
Dr Yasmin Rashid said that the Punjab government had achieved the capacity to carry out 4,000 to 5,000 coronavirus tests daily. However, efforts were being made to further enhance the capacity, she added.
The health minister said that Lahore was the most affected city in Punjab with 1,384 confirmed coronavirus cases currently. She said that lockdown in the province was being converted into smart lockdown to facilitate people.
Speaking about the number of cases in Punjab, she said that as many as 1,380 patients have returned to their homes after recovering from COVID-19 whereas 95 people have lost their lives and 22 patients are currently in critical condition.
“Punjab has conducted over 75,000 tests by now whereas the number of total patients has reached 5,730,” she added.
She said that the cities most affected by the pandemic in Northern Punjab, include Lahore, Rawalpindi, Gujranwala and Gujrat as well as northern cities along GT Road. In South Punjab, the majority of Corona patients are from the Tablighi Jamat and pilgrims coming from Iran.
It may be noted here that the government will conduct tests in selected households in identified areas. These tests will also be conducted in media houses and Darul Aman as well.
These areas will be identified for samples from data of people kept at Quarantine Centers.
“After tests, we will decide which areas will be picked for a strict lockdown to stop the transmission. We are considering smart lockdowns instead of the complete lockdown of the cities. The hot spots have already been identified for smart sampling. The data we obtain will also be analysed for contact tracing,” the minister explained.
“The good news is that our country has a population which is majorly young and they have better immunity so, we have not experienced what other countries have,” Dr Yasmin said.
