QUETTA: Balochistan government spokesperson Liaquat Shahwani on Thursday said that the province’s testing capacity had increased from 80 tests per day to 1,200 tests a day, a remarkable increase given the lack of healthcare facilities in the deprived province.
Highlighting the progress the province has made in its fight against the Covid-19 pandemic, Shahwani said: “Five laboratories have been established across the province and the current testing capacity has increased 1,200 tests a day.”
Detailing the provincial government’s 100-day progress against the pandemic, he said the province had decided to impose a lockdown on March 17, when 92 cases were reported.
Cases started to increase after the lockdown was relaxed, he said and added that the government did all it could to ensure that standard operating procedures (SOPs) were being followed.
“Most people resisted getting tested because of the fear of being stigmatised and fear of living in a quarantine centre but once the government allowed patients with less or no symptoms to remain at home, more residents came forward to get tested,” he recalled.
