The National Health Laboratory (NHL) in Dili has partnered with Australia’s Menzies School of Health Research since the beginning of the outbreak in April to run tests, but was sending samples to the Royal Darwin Hospital to be double-checked, Tatoli reported on Friday.

Josh Francis, Menzies’ Timor-Leste project lead, told Tatoli that since the beginning of last week the Dili-based laboratory has not had to verify its test results, with local laboratory staff having mastered the “complex” test process. 

The achievement speeds up the return of test results.

The NHL laboratory is processing 40-50 samples per day.

As of Monday, results from 922 tests have returned negative.

Registered infections in Timor-Leste remain stable at 24, with 22 recoveries.