An Giang province hospital starts doing COVID-19 tests

The hospital’s molecular
biology laboratory can do quick tests on blood samples and respiratory tract
specimens using the real time-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) technique to
identify the virus.

The technique reduces the time
required to produce results, and saves the hospital the trouble of sending
samples to the HCM City Pasteur Institute for testing.

It takes less than three and a
half hours, and the hospital can do 400 tests in a day.

Knowing the importance of this
technique for timely quarantining, the province People’s Committee instructed
the hospital to instal a RT-PCR system.

The system also helps diagnose
hepatitis B and C and HIV.     

It was installed in the
molecular biology laboratory and meets biosafety level 2, which covers work
with pathogenic and infectious organisms that pose a moderate hazard.
Self-closing lockable doors and bio-hazard warning signs are mandatory at all
access points to the lab. There are four levels of bio-safety.

The HCM City Pasteur Institute
trained the hospital staff in conducting SARS-CoV-2 tests.

The hospital also installed an
extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) machine which adds oxygen to
patients’ blood and pumps it through their body just like the heart. It is an
advanced technique in emergency aid and recovery for patients with severe
respiratory failure who are unable to use the ventilator.

As of April 9, An Giang has had
three COVID-19 patients, one of whom has been discharged from hospital. The
other two are being treated.

The provincial-level police
have been assigned to work with police departments in communes and towns to
visit each household, especially those with people who had to be in quarantine,
and inquire about their health status.

They also collaborate with
border guards to patrol the border with Cambodia, which has seen a rise in
COVID-19 incidence.

As of April 10, the country had
39 facilities that are permitted to do SARS-CoV-2 tests./.