Chinese embassy further clarified that the laboratory was built in June under an urgent basis with technical support from China. The machine was used for 26,000 PCR tests before it started to malfunction.
Chinese Company BGI Genomics installed the machine in June.
Government sources say that the malfunctioning PCR machine in Colombo East Base Hospital is being repaired and will re-start tests on Monday 2nd November 2020.
While Sri Lanka is facing capacity issues of conducting adequate PCR tests, about 15,000 PCR test kits have been expired without using, Government Medical Officers' Association (GMOA) pointed out.
Assistant Secretary of GMOA, Dr. Naveen de Soyza said that 24 institutes of the public sector have failed to reach the level of 10,000 tests per day while a single institute in the private sector conducts over 1,200 tests per day.
However, Dr. Asela Gunawardana, Director-General of Health Services said that the government institutes have the capacity of conducting about 10,000 PCR tests daily.
Photo: The unstable operation desk on which the PCR machine is kept in Colombo East Base Hospital is seen in the photo issued by the Chinese embassy.
