Covid-19 PCR test centre inaugurated at KMU

PESHAWAR: A PCR test center for Covid-19 was inaugurated at Khyber Medical University (KMU) here on Wednesday.

The centre was inaugurated Special Assistant to the Chief Minister for Information and Public Relations Barrister Muhammad Ali Saif. Vice-Chancellor KMU Prof Dr Ziaul Haq, Director KMU Public Health Reference Lab (PHRL) Dr Yasir Yousafzai, Director Institute of Pathology and Diagnostic Medicine Dr Asif Ali, and other officials were also present on the occasion.

Speaking to media after the inauguration, Barrister Saif said that the rapid rise in the Corona cases was a major challenge for all and the provincial government was taking all possible steps to address the challenge.

He said the services rendered by KMU-PHRL in connection with Corona tests were commendable and now the management of PCR tests within the university would not only help in reducing the rush regarding tests at hospitals but also there would be more secure and free diagnostic facilities available to people at the center. “We are proud of the public services that KMU is rendering in dealing with the Corona pandemic by establishing the Corona Vaccination Center and PHRL. There is a need to ensure large scale vaccination to contain coronavirus and timely utilisation of PCR test facilities,” he added. Earlier, Prof Dr Ziaul Haq said that so far 1.12 million tests had been conducted in KMU-PHRL and 4000-6000 tests were conducted there on a daily basis.

He said that PHRL has been carrying out PCR tests since the beginning of the first wave of Covid-19 and during the last two years, 20 coronavirus test labs had been set up in the province from DI Khan up to Chitral.

He added that 13 of these labs had been set up in the public and 7 in the private sector. He said that PHRL had a highly trained staff and in addition to different variants, genome sequencing facilities are also available here. At the end, Dr Ziaul Haq also presented a shield to Barrister Saif.