#TurksandCaicosIslands – January 28, 2021 – Very soon, the National Public Health Laboratory will be able to run ‘gold standard’ PCR tests at a rate of 400 per day, said the Minister of Health during a press conference on Tuesday.
“The automation has arrived for the laboratory
testing. The automation extraction kits
that will increase the laboratory capacity is120 samples per day and this
automation will increase it to 400 samples per day,” said Edwin Astwood,
Minister of Health.
In the most recent situational report issued by the Turks
and Caicos Islands Ministry of Health, the lab completed 108 tests in a single
day and overall testing at the lab has soared past 13,000 amidst the pandemic.
Earlier in the year, it was announced that the equipment
was coming and adds to the upgrades triggered by the Coronavirus Pandemic at
the government’s laboratory.
There have been 515 new coronavirus cases recorded in Turks
and Caicos in just over a month; and with the spread came the announcement of a
postponement of community testing for the virus.
“It is also important to note that the scale and the surge
of contact tracing impacted the Ministry’s ability to conduct our community
testing due to the high volumes of swabs being taken from persons,” explained
the Health Minister.
Currently testing at the lab is erratic with lows in the
20s and a recent high of over 200 tests in a 24 hour period. The Minister explained the ebbs and flows is
linked to a shortage of manpower.
“It does not mean that every day, we should expect to see
400 samples run. It depends on the
number of swabs collected and the availability of the technologists.”
He added, “Discussions are well underway to increase
swabbing through the addition of more staff.”
