Lithuanian laboratories have reached their Covid-19 testing capacity limits, the deputy director of the National Public Health Surveillance Laboratory (NVSPI) said on Friday.
"Both equipment and human resources are being fully utilized,” Rosita Balčienė told LRT RADIO. “The laboratories are coping with the volume of samples, at least for now.”
The country's laboratories are currently capable of handling around 12,000 samples per 24 hours, but the capacity could be increased if needed, she said.
"The point is probably not in the number of tests performed, but in making sure that these tests are targeted at the right population so as to maximize the impact on pandemic control," the deputy director said.
"However, the capacity could be increased, because some hospitals are now doing laboratory tests only for their patients. The NVSPI is also working on increasing its own capacity. First of all, it requires large human resources, which are not easy to find," she added.
Lithuania currently has a 50-day supply of reagents, the chemicals used for coronavirus tests, according to the official.
Over a million tests for Covid-19 have been carried out in Lithuania so far.
The Health Ministry said on Thursday that the number of tests surged to almost 14,600 in the last 24 hours, up from last week's daily average of around 10,000 tests.
Read more: Lithuanian PM expects 3-week quarantine to be enough to ‘stabilise’ situation
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