Efforts are still being made to operationalise two additional Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) machines in the country to further increase testing for the novel coronavirus.
Currently at the National Public Health Reference Laboratory, one PCR machine is being used to test samples for COVID-19. Minister of Health Dr Frank Anthony told Stabroek News that while there are two other machines available and another has been ordered, technical personnel are working on getting those machines active.
Dr Anthony said that a technical team is working to equip the laboratory with a machine which was taken from the Guyana Livestock Development Authority (GLDA). However, he noted that the other machine which was recovered from the wharf is slightly different from the machine which is currently in use. “That one, the technical specification on how that one works is slightly different from what our technicians know about.”
