Pakistan allows people to buy COVID-19 kits for home testing – Xinhua

ISLAMABAD, Feb. 2 (Xinhua) — Pakistan has approved the general public conducting self-testing for COVID-19 with testing kits to be bought over the counter from pharmacies, the Drug Regulatory Authority of Pakistan said in a statement on Wednesday.

According to the authority, the tests which require nasal swabs or saliva specimens have now been approved for home testing as a measure to reduce the chances of COVID-19 transmission from hospitals and laboratories where the tests were earlier being conducted.

However, the tests which require nasopharyngeal or oropharyngeal specimens will only be conducted by laboratory personnel or health professionals.

The country is currently facing a serious fifth wave of COVID-19 triggered off by the Omicron variant, with a national positivity rate of over 10 percent over the last few days.

In order to control the pandemic, the country has imposed several restrictions on business, recreational and educational activities.

According to the statistics released by the National Command and Operation Center on Wednesday, 1,436,413 people have tested positive for the disease in the country with 6,047 new cases detected on Tuesday. ?

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