Karachi's Abbasi Shaheed Hospital begins free virus testing

;Abbasi Shaheed Hospital has sufficient staff and equipment but not enough resources'

KARACHI: A free coronavirus testing facility has been launched at Abbasi Shaheed Hospital (ASH) by the Karachi Metropolitan Corporation (KMC), announced Karachi Mayor Wasim Akhtar on Thursday.

Inaugurating the facility, Akhtar said that as many as 65 people would be tested at the hospital on a daily basis, while patients in critical condition would be admitted to intensive care units (ICUs) and high dependency units (HDUs) equipped with ventilators.

Terming the testing facility a huge achievement for KMC, the mayor claimed they had upgraded the laboratory at ASH.

He added that people who were previously unable to afford the tests could can visit the hospital for them, adding that doctors would conduct tests for free based on the patients' symptoms.

Akhtar further disclosed that the facility houses 35 beds in the HDU and 18 ventilators, while some work remains to be completed in the ICU.

"We had spoken to the federal and Sindh governments who felt that there is a shortage of doctors, medical staff and equipment at the hospital, but this is not the case," he stated. "The hospital has sufficient staff and equipment but not enough resources."

Published in The Express Tribune, June 26^th, 2020.