CM Usman Buzdar okays corona test labs for Multan, Rahim Yar Khan

LAHORE: Chief Minister Usman Buzdar on Monday approved BSL-III (Bio-safety level-3) labs in Multan and Rahim Yar Khan to provide corona tests facilities to people. This was decided in a meeting of the cabinet committee for the eradication of coronavirus, which was chaired by the Chief Minister at CM Office, here. Secretary Primary and Secondary Health briefed about the current corona situation.

The CM directed that the government labs should provide corona tests’ results in the minimum time and warned that no compromise would be made on the quality of tests. A time-frame of the corona test’s result should be fixed in labs, he directed.

An average 16,000 tests were conducted in the province and the capacity would be increased as up to 25,000 tests could be conducted daily, he added.

The meeting also gave in-principle approval to give honoraria to corona labs’ staff.

The CM directed the DIG traffic to allow trucks’ entry into the city in the morning for timely provision of oxygen cylinders to the hospitals.

He directed for strict implementation of SOPs in revenue Khidmat open courts as corona ratio was around 5 per cent in Punjab.

The smart lock-down had been imposed in 2,016 affected areas while restricting the movement of 131,000 inhabitants, he added.

The meeting gave in-principle approval to extend the employment of the consultant recruited during the first corona attack and the CM asserted that every step would be taken to overcome the second wave. He regretted the number of corona patients had increased due to non-wearing of face masks and emphasised that this restriction would be strictly implemented in markets.

Public safety was the supreme and necessary decision would be taken to ensure the safety of the citizens, he added.

Ministers Dr Yasmin Rashid, Mian Aslam Iqbal, Yasir Humayun, Murad Raas, SACM Firdous Ashiq Awan, ACSs of HED and Home departments, administrative secretaries, Commissioner Lahore and experts attended the meeting while high ranking military officials, Rawalpindi and Multan commissioners participated through video-link.