NEWPORT will soon be playing host a new health laboratory that will be used in the first instance to process coronavirus tests from across Wales and England.
The facility - to be based at the city's Imperial Park at Duffryn - will form part of the expanding UK Lighthouse Labs Network.
Lighthouse Labs is a national diagnostic laboratory network, backed by the UK scientific community, to support the fight against coronavirus.
It is expected that the laboratory will be completed and operating by the end of next month.
Public Health Wales, the NHS Wales Shared Services Partnership, and Life Sciences Hub Wales have been working with the UK Government on the project.
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Health minister Vaughan Gething welcomed the announcement of a new Lighthouse Lab for Newport.
He said the announcement builds on the £5 million investment by the Welsh Government to create a Public Health Wales laboratory at the site.
When the laboratory is no longer needed for processing tests for coronavirus, it will be handed over for use by NHS Wales.
"We are making increasing use of the UK-wide testing system and the Lighthouse Lab network," said Mr Gething.
"This will support our Test, Trace, Protect strategy by helping us get the testing capacity and turnaround times we need, and to be ready for the autumn.
"It also provides another jobs boost to Wales’ growing life sciences sector.”
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