Legal notice served to set up PCR labs in every district

A Supreme Court lawyer today sent a legal notice to the health secretary and the director general of the Directorate General of Health Services, requesting them to take necessary steps in five days to set up Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) laboratories in every district of the country in order to quickly complete Covid-19 tests.

Advocate Moniruzzaman Lincoln served the legal notice through emails saying the he will take appropriate legal action if the measures are not taken in five days to set up PCR laboratories in all districts of the country.

In the legal notice, he said the number of coronavirus patients in the country is reportedly increasing day by day.

A patient has to wait for 7 to 10 days to get test results due to shortage of PCR laboratories and during this period there is possibility of transmission, he said in the legal notice.

The lawyer also said if the PCR laboratories are established in every district, Covid-19 tests will be completed early and the patients can know their status quickly and therefore the treatment will take place smoothly.

Advocate Moniruzzaman told The Daily Star that he will move a writ petition before the High Court seeking necessary directives on the authorities concerned of the government if they don't set up PCR laboratories in every district.