Private hospitals extend their lab services for PCR testing 

The Association of Private Hospitals and Nursing Homes (APHNH) is extending all possible assistance to the national operations programme for COVID-19 outbreak, in conducting the much needed PCR tests. 
As such, the medical laboratories of Lanka Hospitals, Asiri Surgical, Nawaloka Hospital and Durdans, the only private healthcare facilities which have molecular diagnostics capability, will conduct the Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) tests essentially for the government, the association said in a media release on Wednesday.
The private hospitals were requested to help the government’s effort in mass testing at an invitation to a high level discussion, chaired by Minister for Health and attended by the Director General of Health Services and the Army Commander. 
“This timely Public Private Partnership (PPP) arrangement will see samples from government quarantine centres and other clusters, suspected of coronavirus infected patients, sent to the private labs. For starters a hundred (100) tests will be conducted daily at each of these four labs, complying strictly with health ministry guidelines,” the statement said. 
All PCR testing at any of these private hospital’s diagnostic labs, will be confined to samples sent by government only and will help ramp up the pace of testing. 
Dr. Lakith Peiris, APHNH’s President said that his membership is fully compliant with and will go the extra mile in supporting the valiant efforts of the Ministry of Health and the National Centre for Prevention of COVID-19 Outbreak in helping to mitigate and contain the spread of infection.
He added that private hospitals are fully geared for patients that have other medical and healthcare needs too, such as surgeries, emergency care etc, which could reduce the stress for the national hospitals which are engulfed with treating pandemic patients.