PCR machine to resume operation from Monday: Chinese embassy

Chinese technical experts, who have been rushed to Sri Lanka, have identified the technical fault of the malfunctioning PCR testing machine at the Base Hospital in Mulleriyawa. After a 10-hour operation the experts concluded that the machine would able to resume operation on Monday, the Chinese embassy said.

An unstable desk may be the reason for the malfunctioning of the machine, the embassy said in a tweet this evening. "A few rounds of verification to be run for 100% sure,” the embassy tweeted. 

The embassy also stated that a new laboratory was built at the Base Hospital, Mulleriyawa in June, on an urgent basis, with the technical support from the Chinese government.

To date, some 26,000 tests had been carried out at this laboratory. The Laboratory at the Mulleriyawa Base Hospital, dedicated for Covid-19 testing was built at a cost Rs. 246 mn, with assistance from the Asian Development Bank.

Earlier, hospital authorities confirmed that although the machine malfunctioned they still managed to carry out some 200 to 300 tests per day in the lab manually. It noted that when the machine is fully functional it can carry out some 500 tests every 12 hours.

6. #lka Lab built in June under urgent basis with technical support from #China
7. it has conducted 26,000 #PCRtest
8. @BGI_Genomics a leading bio-tech company supplies products to 66 countries & built "Fire Eye" #PCRtest labs in #Wuhan #Qingdao #Hongkong & Australia, Serbia etc pic.twitter.com/qKYiKZvQqz

— Chinese Embassy in Sri Lanka (@ChinaEmbSL) October 31, 2020