Guiyang speeds up nucleic acid tests

Medics prepare for tests before entering the labs. [Photo/ddcpc website]

To improve the efficiency of nucleic acid tests and screen possible COVID-19 cases in the recent outbreak in Guiyang, capital of Southwest China's Guizhou province, medics from across Guizhou are assisting with testing in the city.

On Sept 15, 496 medics from the Affiliated Hospital of Zunyi Medical University arrived at Huaguoyuan community and started door-to-door nucleic acid tests at 5:50 am. By 11 am, they had collected nucleic acid samples from 53,000 people.

The samples were immediately transferred to nucleic acid testing labs and institutions. Optimized testing processes allow the samples to be tested in just 3.5 hours.

The Guizhou Center for Disease Control and Prevention has integrated the labs in Jiangjunshan Hospital, Guiyang's pop-up hospitals, Guizhou Open University, and the headquarters of the Guizhou Center for Disease Control and Prevention to enhance quality control.

After the integration, testers can cooperate with each other more effectively, the time it takes after receiving samples to submit results has been shortened, and test efficiency has been improved.

For example, the testing capacity of two shelter labs at Guizhou Open University was increased from 3,000 tubes per day to 12,000 tubes per day.