HCMC – The Nha Trang Pasteur Institute has announced that it will suspend receiving samples for Covid-19 testing due to a shortage of biological medicinal products, chemicals and materials for testing, a representative of the Khanh Hoa Center for Disease Control stated on August 6.
On August 5, the institute sent this announcement to 11 departments of health in localities in Central Vietnam and Centers for Disease Control in 11 provinces and cities in the central and Central Highlands regions, VietnamPlus news site reported.
The institute urged the provincial and municipal centers for Disease Control to proactively conduct Covid-19 tests, adding that some centers which face an overload of testing and need to send samples to the institute should attach biological medicinal products, test kits and materials with the same number as the samples for testing.
Khanh Hoa Province is tasked with receiving and quarantining Vietnamese students and laborers who have returned to Vietnam from foreign countries as well as foreign experts entering the country through Cam Ranh International Airport.
Some 730 people are being quarantined in the province, so the demand for Covid-19 testing is high.
Nguyen Dac Tai, vice chairman of Khanh Hoa, said that to meet the demand, the province has approved a plan to spend an estimated VND3 billion from its budget to purchase 4,000 test kits and biological medicinal products.
However, in line with the prevailing regulations, using funds from the budget to buy medical equipment and materials must be conducted via an auction, so the job will take time.
Dr. Huynh Van Dong, director of the Khanh Hoa Center for Disease Control, said that a unit in the province had proposed giving Khanh Hoa Province a Covid-19 testing machine. Therefore, the province will only purchase chemicals and materials.
The testing machine is set to start operations with a capacity of 200 samples each day from next week to help meet the demand for testing in the province.
