The test showed: up to 1.5 thousand COVID-19 tests are performed daily in the Vitebsk region
– Due to the complex epidemiological situation, the laboratory's activities have been optimized. The unit has been repurposed. Other non-urgent research has been reduced to a minimum. The main efforts today are focused on detecting COVID-19. A three-shift work schedule has been organized. Each shift includes two paramedics and one doctor. Another specialist will arrive in the coming days. We conduct up to 600 tests daily. Depending on the manufacturer and the reagents included in the kit, the analysis takes from 3 to 5 hours.
The Chief Sanitary Doctor of the region, Vladimir Sinkevich, provides the figures:
– In the Vitebsk region as a whole, there are 6 laboratories equipped with modern equipment for molecular genetic research. Up to 1500 tests are conducted here daily. Specialists from the regional center for hygiene, epidemiology and public health, as well as from the center for dermatovenerology, the regional maternity hospital, the infectious diseases hospital, the VSMU clinic, and the repurposed virology department of the regional veterinary laboratory are involved in the laboratory diagnosis of coronavirus. The majority of the staff works around the clock. Additionally, we are addressing issues of expanding capacity and increasing the throughput of laboratories – another unit will appear in Novopolotsk.
Now, instead of Chinese and Russian test systems, domestic ones, including those produced in Vitebsk, have been introduced, says Vladimir Alekseevich. Laboratory technicians are currently working with them. Belarusian test systems have already proven themselves well, are distinguished by their quality, and show high accuracy.
– We had enough laboratory technicians to handle the increased workload. However, to assist specialists, manage paperwork, and create a database, we involved employees from other departments, – notes Vladimir Sinkevich. – The goal is to maximize the efficiency of every minute of a paramedic-laboratory technician's and doctor's work, and not to distract them from laboratory diagnostics...
The Chief Sanitary Doctor separately emphasizes the need to remember that tests are performed not "upon request," but strictly by doctor's prescription, guided by clinical and epidemiological indications. There is no need to take a test "just in case." This has been repeatedly emphasized before. Such information will not give the patient anything except unnecessary anxiety and wasted time. However, if there are clinical signs of an acute respiratory infection or contact with sick people, the doctor will prescribe a test.
– After all, today we are looking for the antigen-causative agent, – explains Vladimir Alekseevich. – It may not be present now, but it will appear in an hour if the person is infected. So, tests are not a panacea or the ultimate truth. They are just one component of assessing a person's health status. A diagnosis is made based on clinical manifestations and various (not just one) laboratory tests. Even if the test is negative, the symptoms may indicate this particular disease. In the near future, we expect to receive express antibody tests, which will also be used in comprehensive diagnostics. This information will help medical professionals.
The Vitebsk Regional Center for Hygiene, Epidemiology, and Public Health once again draws attention to the need for strict adherence to social distancing rules:
– A person can become a danger to others two days before the first symptoms of coronavirus appear, – reminds Vladimir Sinkevich. – Therefore, strictly follow the doctors' recommendations, do not visit places with mass gatherings of people without urgent need, refrain from unnecessary trips. Then there will be no need for tests, which, I emphasize, are currently not a routine analysis, but a high-tech research method. There is no need to mass-produce such research.