National Emergency Operation Centre (NEOC) has revealed efforts are underway to bring in COVID-19 testing machines to Tree Top Hospital and five regional hospitals in the Maldives.
Speaking at the daily press briefing, Spokesperson of NEOC Mohamed Mabrook Azeez said the government had previously planned to arrange testing facilities in 5 regions by installing cartridges to existing GeneXpert machines. However, Mabrook said the government now plans to bring in PCR machines to Tree Top Hospital and five regional hospitals in order to directly test for COVID-19. He added the new machines will allow COVID-19 tests to be conducted without involving many laboratory technicians.
Furthermore, the spokesperson said Ministry of Health is still working on acquiring 25,000 cartridges for the GeneXpert machines in the atolls, which were being used to test for Tuberculosis. He said the cartridges are being brought with the assistance of World Health Organisation (WHO), adding the cartridges are expected to arrive by the end of the month.
Currently, COVID-19 testing is conducted only through PCR machines at Indira Gandhi Memorial Hospital (IGMH) and the forensic laboratory at Maldives Police Service (MPS). NEOC said an extraction machine is scheduled to arrive in the Maldives on May 17, which would increase the testing capacity of the country to 600 samples per day.