Punjab to set up 4 new COVID-19 testing facilities

The Punjab Government on Monday announced that the state would set up four new COVID-19 testing facilities with four ad-hoc assistant professors and 131 essential staff to boost testing capacity.

The Punjab Government on Monday announced that the state would set up four new COVID-19 testing facilities with four ad-hoc assistant professors and 131 essential staff to boost testing capacity. "To strengthen its fight against COVID-19, the Punjab government has decided to set up four new testing laboratories, with priority appointment of the 131 essential staff needed for these labs," the press release read.

"The state cabinet, at its meeting today under Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh, gave the go-ahead to settting up the new labs in Ludhiana, Jalandhar and Mohali, to help scale up the testing capacity from the current 9,000 a day, in the three Government Medical Colleges at Patiala, Amritsar and Faridkot, to 13,000 tests per day," the statement read further. The new laboratories would be established in Guru Angad Dev Veterinary and Animal Sciences University, Ludhiana; Punjab State Forensic Sciences Laboratory, Mohali; Northern Regional Diseases Diagnostic Laboratory, Jalandhar; and Punjab Biotechnology Incubator, Mohali.

"All the appointments will be made through outsourcing from Baba Farid University of Health Sciences, Faridkot," said an official spokesperson. "The expenditure of Rs 17.46 lakh per month to be incurred against the 131 staff appointments and Rs 3.06 lakh per month against the ad-hoc Assistant Professor posts would be met from the State Disaster Response Fund. The 131 staff positions would include Research Scientists (Non-Medical), Research Assistants, Lab Technicians, Data Entry Operators, Lab Attendants and Sweepers," the release added.

The state cabinet further announced re-employment of a medical, ayurvedic and dental facility in government hospitals. "The Cabinet has also given the nod to re-employment of the medical, ayurvedic and dental faculty at the Government Medical Colleges and the Government Dental Colleges in Patiala and Amritsar, as well as the Government Ayurvedic College, Patiala, after their retirement at 62 years," read the release.

The re-employment will be up to the age of 70 years for Medical/Ayurvedic teachers, for Dental faculty, it will be till the age of 65. (ANI)

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