The Director General of Directorate General of Health Services in Bangladesh (DGHS) Prof. Abul Kalam Azad told the official news agency BSS on Tuesday that the testing facilities in the country have been expanded but this appears not to be sufficient. He said that the health department is planning to use multiple testing methods including antigen, nucleic acid and antibody dry and wet tests from next month.
Speaking about the shortage of testing equipment, Prof. Abul Kalam Azad said that the government was importing 20,000-30,000 testing kits even while it was difficult to get these from one source due to growing global demand and restrictions on exports in various countries.
Bangladesh is currently carrying out 15,000 to 18,000 Coronavirus tests daily using the RT-PCR method though its 62 labs across the country. Till Tuesday, it had carried out 6,44,011 Coronavirus tests.
Till Tuesday, Bangladesh has reported 1,19, 198 corona positive cases in the country. The death toll due to Coronavirus in the country stood at 1545 on Tuesday.