Covid testing suspended at Jalandhar lab

The Punjab government has temporarily suspended the Covid-19 testing at the Animal Husbandry Department’s Regional Disease Diagnostic Laboratory (RDDL), Jalandhar, to maximise testing for avian influenza (bird flu) in the state. Health and Family Welfare Minister Balbir Singh Sidhu said RDDL would revert to testing for Covid-19 once bird flu threat was over. He clarified not even a single sample was pending for testing at the facility. Hussan Lal, Principal Secretary, Health and Family Welfare, said in the wake of bird flu, instructions had been issued to all civil surgeons asking them to coordinate on a regular basis with the Department of Animal Husbandry in their respective districts for any unusual death of poultry birds/migratory birds, etc. and ensure regular surveillance of wetlands, if any, in respective areas.