Bagmati, August 23

In view of the rising number of coronavirus cases in the districts of Bagmati Province, the provincial government is working to establish PCR labs in three more hospitals.

The new labs will be set up in the provincial capital Hetauda, Sindhuli Hospital and Bhaktapur Hospital so that at least 900 swab samples could be tested every day, Basanta Adhikari, chief of Province Health Supplies and Management Centre, said.

Bagmati Province government is procuring three PCR testing machines with 96 panels for the planned labs.

Recently, the provincial government had installed a PCR testing lab at Dhulikhel in Kavre district. Adhikari said a tender notice would be issued tomorrow for procurement of the PCR machine.

Meanwhile, Chief Minister of Bagmati Province Dormani Poudel said tests for the coronavirus infection had started in Province Public Health Laboratory in Dhulikhel.

In one of his social media posts today, Chief Minister Poudel said swab samples collected from Dolakha, Ramechhap, Sindhupalchowk, Sindhuli and Kavre districts would be tested at Dhulikhel Hospital and Province Public Health Laboratory in Dhulikhel.

He also said that a PCR testing lab would also be established in Trishuli Hospital, Nuwakot.

A version of this article appears in e-paper on August 24, 2020, of The Himalayan Times.