New testing, processing laboratory for hospital

By ELIAS LARI
THE Mt Hagen Hospital in Western Highlands will have its own Covid-19 testing and processing centre, the provincial health authority says.
This follows the maintenance and rebuilding of the previous medical records office at the hospital which will be converted into a laboratory to conduct tests and produce rapid results.
The authority said the new laboratory would have a Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) machine for Covid-19 testing.
PCR is a technique used to conduct tests for rapid results.
It said it was keen to use the PCR for immediate contact tracing and surveillance within the cluster of a positive case to contain and manage the spread of the virus.
Currently, swabs are tested at the Central Pharmacy Health Laboratory in Port Moresby, Institute of Medical Research in Goroka, in laboratories in Brisbane and Singapore which takes almost three to four weeks for results to come back.
Western Highlands health authority pathology laboratory manager Dr Zure Kombati said the laboratory and the acquisition of the PCR would help combat the spread of the virus.
He said the delay in test results was impractical and meant there would be uncertainty during the period.
He said rapid results for Covid-19 tests was the best way to track and manage the spread of the virus.