Devoting all efforts for the testing results

The Covid-19 testing area is located separately behind the CDC. Regardless of day or night, 14 employees of the Testing Department always take specimens in quick, careful and precise manner to extract, analyze and return test results rapidly.

The technicians do testing to trace for SARS-CoV-2 at the provincial Center for Disease Control.

“During the peak months, we usually worked overnight in turn. The on-duty teams alternatively implemented the close procedures to complete the work on schedule to return test results to the suspected patients and quarantined people”, said technician Bui Thi Thanh Van.

The Testing Department arranged 3 teams to take specimens, extract them, run the machines and analyze results. Those who take testing specimens face high risk of infection because the specimens are throat fluids. The medical staff directly taking specimens must consider themselves as F1 cases to take the best preventive measures for the community.

Because of the limited human resources serving a large number of people returning from abroad for medical isolation, all of the members had to work against the clock. Especially when the pandemic occurred complicatedly in Yen Dinh commune, Son Dong district and neighboring provinces and city, sample taking at CDC was implemented with higher frequency.

“We have never done such an enormous and enduring workload. Since the pandemic occurred, the Department have taken 31,500 specimens including 14 ones tested negative for SARS-CoV-2”, said Duong Thi Hien, Head of the Testing Department.

As the second facility in the province having sufficient conditions to detect SARS-CoV-2 virus, the Department of Microbiology (under the provincial General Hospital) is able to return 300 test results a day.

The technicians are normally very busy with testing for many types of diseases. Although their work copes with more pressure when being assigned more duty of testing for SARS-CoV-2, the skilled technicians with high sense of responsibility still fulfill their work on schedule.

“This is an important duty which must be implemented quickly and accurately. Thus, we must use all of our ability, intelligence and prestige for the test results”, said doctor Do Quoc Tuan.

Since the pandemic outbreak, the provincial General Hospital has received 303 suspected cases. Fortunately, no cases were infected with SARS-CoV-2.

Ceaseless efforts

On the first days fighting against the pandemic, only CDC was able to test for SARS-CoV-2 in the province with the capacity of 50 specimens per day.

In order to effectively fight the enduring pandemic, the provincial Steering Committee for Covid-19 prevention and control directed the Health Sector to invest in machinery, equipment and human resource training to enhance testing capacity meeting the requirement “fighting against the pandemic like fighting against enemies”.

With the maximum capacity of 1,200 specimens per day, currently CDC can meet the testing demand in the province and remedy situation of remaining samples await for testing which helps the provincial Steering Committee to rapidly implement effective measures to control the pandemic in urgent circumstances.

In the initial stage of the pandemic fight, sometimes CDC could not purchase enough medical biologicals for testing that affected the work progress. Making use of the human resources and available machines and facilities, now the center is able to self-produce the fluids as virus isolation environment becoming independent from the suppliers.

This time, the pandemic has been temporarily slowed down but a lot of people returning from abroad, foreign experts and technical labourers coming Bac Giang for work from virus-hit areas who must be put in compulsory quarantine for the pandemic prevention and control. Thus, the work of the testing technicians is still continuous and constraint which forces them to pay high attention to fulfilling their duties regardless of day or night.

This is the great effort and silent devotion of the medical staff in the fight against the global pandemic to protect the people’s health.

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Minh Thu