At 1,392, Punjab’s testing per million better than national average: Sidhu

A total of 41,849 tests conducted in state so far, says health minister

Punjab health and family welfare minister Balbir Singh Sidhu on Wednesday said the testing per million for coronavirus in Punjab has now risen to 1,392 per day, which is higher than the national average of 1,243.

HT Image

In a statement, Sidhu also said the state has conducted a total of 41,849 tests for Covid-19 till Wednesday (May 13).

He said Punjab has followed an effective approach towards testing and formulated its strategy in consultation with experts from the state, the Centre for Policy Research, New Delhi, and Johns Hopkins University, US.

The minister said that Punjab rapidly ramped up its testing rate by increasing its lab capacities. “The state had tested 20,000 samples by May 2. Moving forward, it completed the next set of 10,000 tests in just 5 days, crossing the 30,000-mark by May 7.”

The state, he said, plans to commence testing at four state government labs -- Regional Disease Diagnostic Laboratory, Jalandhar; Guru Angad Dev Veterinary and Animal Sciences University, Ludhiana; Punjab Biotech Incubator, Mohali; and State Forensic Science Laboratory, Mohali.

Besides, labs are also being set up at four central government institutions -- Indian Institute of Science Education and Research (IISER), Mohali; National Institute of Pharmaceutical Education and Research (NIPER), Mohali; National Agri-Food Biotechnology Institute (NABI); and Panjab University, Chandigarh, he added.

Sidhu said a proposal has also been sent to the Centre by the health department to set up four new labs in the district hospitals at Barnala, Rupnagar, Ludhiana and Hoshiarpur.

“Government labs are also going in for pool testing in low prevalence areas to enhance the testing capacity in the state. So far, approximately 7,435 pool tests have been conducted in the state,” he said.