Initial Clinical Laboratory Response to COVID-19: A Survey of Medical Laboratory Professionals.

OBJECTIVE: To explore the experiences of medical laboratory professionals (MLPs) and their perceptions of the needs of clinical laboratories in response to COVID-19. METHODS: We surveyed laboratory professionals working in United States clinical laboratories during the initial months of the pandemic. RESULTS: Overall clinical laboratory testing and overtime work for laboratorians decreased during the first months of the pandemic. Laboratory professionals reported better or unchanged job satisfaction, feelings toward their work, and morale in their workplace, which were related to healthcare facility and laboratory leadership response. They reported receiving in-kind gifts, but no hazard pay, for their essential work. Important supply needs included reagents and personal protective equipment (PPE). CONCLUSION: The response by healthcare facilities and laboratory leadership can influence MLPs job satisfaction, feelings toward their work, and laboratory morale during a pandemic. Current COVID-19 laboratory testing management, in the absence of sufficient reagents and supplies, cannot fully address the needs of clinical laboratories.

Utility of repeat testing for COVID-19: Laboratory stewardship when the stakes are high.

As the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) continues to circulate, testing strategies are of the utmost importance. Given national shortages of testing supplies, personal protective equipment, and other hospital resources, diagnostic stewardship is necessary to aid in resource management. We report the low utility of serial testing in a low-prevalence setting.

An Australian diagnostic microbiology surge response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Diagnostic microbiology services form a critical component of the response to infectious disease outbreaks. Like previous respiratory virus pandemics, the COVID-19 pandemic has placed significant strains on the standing capacity of laboratories around the world. In this case study, we describe the surge response required by our laboratory to meet the fluctuating demand for SARS-CoV-2 in our regional pathology service in Western Sydney, Australia between March and May 2020. While the overall number of SARS-CoV-2 PCR positive cases was relatively low compared to other Australian local health districts, testing numbers were highly unpredictable and changed on a weekly basis as local outbreaks were detected. As with other laboratories, numerous other challenges were also faced during this period, including the requirement to introduce a new and unaccredited diagnostic PCR assay for SARS-CoV-2, local and global shortages of reagents for sampling and sample processing, and a significant institutional SARS-CoV-2 outbreak in our laboratory catchment area. A successful service delivery during this period could only be maintained by a dynamic whole-of-laboratory and organizational response including (1) operational changes to the hours of service and the expansion of diagnostic testing at our laboratory site and other sites within our organization (2) careful management of specialist staff and re-training and recruitment of additional staff (3) changes to laboratory workflows to improve SARS-CoV-2 PCR test turnaround time and to accommodate limits to precious laboratory reagents; (4) clear communication within our laboratory and the NSW Health Pathology organization; and (5) collaborative co-ordination and support by NSW Health Pathology.

Increasing molecular diagnostic capacity and COVID-19 incidence in Brazil.

Different countries have adopted strategies for the early detection of SARS-CoV-2 since the declaration of community transmission by the World Health Organization (WHO) and timely diagnosis has been considered one of the major obstacles for surveillance and healthcare. Here, we report the increase of the number of laboratories to COVID-19 diagnosis in Brazil. Our results demonstrate an increase and decentralisation of certified laboratories, which does not match the much higher increase in the number of COVID-19 cases. Also, it becomes clear that laboratories are irregularly distributed over the country, with a concentration in the most developed state, São Paulo.