Statement of the Minister of Health Launch of Mobile Laboratories National Health Laboratory Services (South Africa)
To date 44292 people have been tested largely in private laboratories. A total of 47541 tests have been completed, of which about 6000 were performed in the public National Health Laboratory Service. This is way too few considering the size of our population and other important factors such as inequality, poverty and underlying disease burden we have. The President has approved a “COVID Home Visits Program”, of mass community-based screening, referral for clinic testing, quarantine of suspected cases and appropriate care for COVID-19 patients. To ensure there is adequate capacity to test citizens being screened, the Natiional Health Laboratory Services(NHLS) has procured 60 mobile vans, in addition to the 7 currently deployed to provinces, totaling 67 mobile testing units
