Kathmandu, June 22 -- The polymerase chain reaction (PCR) test kits procured by the Nepal Army from China are incompatible with most testing machines in the country, according to the Health Ministry officials.

According to Dr Roshan Pokhrel, chief specialist at the Health Ministry, the tesk kits supplied by the army cannot be used in many of the country's laboratories, including at the National Public Health Laboratory, the central laboratory that tests large numbers of specimens collected from the districts.

"We have tried to use those test kits in big laboratories but have been unable to as they do not fit into the PCR machines we have available," Pokhrel told the Post. "We are now trying to use them in hospitals that directly collect...