The government has permitted three more institutions to conduct tests for COVID-19 at their laboratories amid an escalating coronavirus outbreak in Bangladesh.
Sir Salimullah Medical College, Central Police Hospital and the National Institute of Preventive and Social Medicine (NIPSOM) are the latest to get the greenlight, DGHS Additional Director General Nasima Sultana said on Friday.
It brings the tally of authorised COVID-19 testing facilities to 31 -- 15 in Dhaka and 16 elsewhere in the country, reports bdnews24.com.
The number of tests has increased after more labs began examining samples for the virus, Nasima noted.
“We are targeting more samples and tests. At least 5,573 samples were tested in authorised labs in the last 24 hours. This includes the three new labs. Initially, the new labs will do a small number of tests but will gradually increase its output.”
Bangladesh reported its first cases of the coronavirus on Mar 8. Since then, the tally of cases has soared to 8,238 with 170 fatalities.
