Punjab yet to achieve 30,000/day testing target set by CM

CHANDIGARH: At a time Punjab is seeing a sharp rise in Covid-19 fatalities, the state is lagging behind in testing, which is one of the most crucial factors in controlling the spread of the virus by identifying and isolating infected people early. In fact, even three weeks after Punjab chief minister Captain Amarinder Singh directed that Covid-19 testing in the state be increased to 30,000 a day, the state government is yet to achieve the target.
The direction was issued on August 20, and 3,53,313 tests were conducted between August 21 and September 6 -- an average 20,783 tests a day. Even as efforts are on to improve the testing capacity, Punjab is lagging behind many worst-hit states and been overtaken by a couple of states which were testing less earlier.

As on August 30, with a testing rate of 34,670 tests per million, Punjab was placed eighth on the list of 20 most affected states. By September 5, Punjab managed to reach 39,068 tests per million, an increase by 4,398 tests per million -- lowest among the top 10 states.
‘Punjab to raise capacity at existing labs’
Punjab has been surpassed by Gujarat and Uttarakhand. Gujarat improved its testing rate from 33,316 as on AugustChandigarh30 to 39,825 on September 5 and Uttarakhand from 33,182 to 39,207.Punjab is trailing Delhi (87,223), Andhra Pradesh (77,602), Tamil Nadu (68,586), Kerala (52,155), Karnataka (49,604), Odisha (47,628), Gujarat (39,825) and Uttarakhand (39,207). The neighbouring state of Haryana is faring much better by conducting 43,514 tests per million population.
Punjab is using reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) and rapid antigen test for testing people and has the capacity to conduct 16,250 RT PCR tests a day.
Of the total testing capacity, over 98% of testing is done in seven state government-run institutes - GMCH Patiala (5,000), GMC Amritsar (5,000), GGMCH Faridkot (5,000), GADVASU Ludhiana (250), RDDL Jalandhar, Forensic Science Lab Mohali (250) and Punjab Biotech Incubator Mohali (250). The contribution of the central government testing laboratories is less than 2% — PGIMER (150) and CSIR-IMTECH Chandigarh (100). A small number of tests are also done by private accredited laboratories.
Punjab medical education minister OP Soni said that the government is in process of enhancing the testing capacity of existing laboratories and will achieve the target in the coming week. "More machines are being installed in the recently set up four laboratories," said the minister.