Starting June 4, 2020, the laboratory of Tuberculosis (TB) Control, a sub-department in Mawlamyine General Hospital will be able to process 280 COVID-19 tests a day, according to the Mon State Public Health Department.
Professional experts from the National Health Laboratory have trained and supervised medical staff at the Mawlamyine Hospital in how to conduct the tests. The Mon State government provided support for the lab equipment, noted Dr Than Lwin Aung, the Deputy State Director of the Mon State Public Health Department.
“We have to send the test results to the National Health Laboratory in the morning and they are then announced by the Union Ministry of Health and Sport (MOHS) in the evening at about 8 pm,” said the Deputy Director.
The Mawlamyine Lab operates 3 days a week (Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday) and prioritizes patients who are either under investigation (PUI), people in quarantine facilities and returnees.
“As of June 7, there were 2,700 returnees from Thailand who are staying at quarantine facilities . We have to test them first. We also don’t have enough staff so we can’t do too many tests now,” said Dr Than Lwin Aung.
The Mawlamyine Lab will eventually test samples from Mon and Karen States and Tenasserim Division but currently, it can only test samples from Mon State.
There are only four COVID-19 laboratories run by the MOHS – the National Health Laboratory, the Department of Medical Research, the Public Health Laboratory Mandalay and the Public Health Laboratory Mawlamyine. The Burmese Military (Tatmadaw’s) #1 Defence Services General Hospital also can do COVID-19 tests.
