CHK faces an acute shortage of COVID-19 diagnostic kits

KARACHI: Sindh's largest teaching hospital, the Dr Ruth Pfau Civil Hospital Karachi, has been facing a severe shortage of coronavirus testing kits for the past couple of days.
The stock of kits provided by the National Institute of Health and the Sindh Health Department has almost ended. The hospital’s administration sent several requests to the Sindh government for the provision of the kits. However, no positive response has been received in this regard as yet.
Sources at the CHK noted that six doctors, three staff nurses, two nurses, a technician, a peon, and several others tested positive for the coronavirus in the hospital so far. The family members of two doctors have also contracted the viral infection.
The administration has announced the screening of the staff working in the Emergency and Gynecology Wards as well as the OT and admin block a few days ago. They were unable to conduct the screening due to a shortage of kits.
Panic ensues amongst the staff working at the CHK due to the unavailability of the diagnostic kits.
The doctors, nurses, and paramedical staff working at the CHK have not been provided with Personal Protective Equipment.
Medical Superintendent, Civil Hospital Karachi, Dr Khadim Hussain Qureshi, was not available to make any comments.