The Experience of the Fight Against COVID-19 in Clinical Laboratory Departments from Chengdu, China

Qin Wang,* Chenggui Liu,* Jian Xu, Peipei Song, Shuzhe Yang, Qin Zhang Department of Clinical Laboratory, Chengdu Women’s and Children’s Central Hospital, School of Medicine, University of Electronic Science and Technology of China, Chengdu, 611731, People’s Republic of China*These authors contributed equally to this workCorrespondence: Qin WangDepartment of Clinical Laboratory, Chengdu Women’s and Children’s Central Hospital, School of Medicine, University of Electronic Science and Technology of China, No. 1617, Riyue Avenue, Qingyang District, Chengdu, 611731, People’s Republic of ChinaTel +86 28 61866000-6267Email 314306221@qq.comObjective: In order to fight against coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) better and to share our experience as a reference for clinical laboratory departments.Methods: This was a retrospective study conducted in the clinical laboratory department of Chengdu Women’s and Children’s Central Hospital in Chengdu, China, from April 2020 to January 2021. The number of nucleic acid and antibody testing specimens of suspected COVID-19 cases was analyzed. The key points of suspected-case sample processing and detection in the clinical laboratory department were summarized. The laboratory was directly involved in the sample processing and testing of suspected cases, the release of reports, and the transfer of specimens to the fever clinic.Results: The number of COVID-19 nucleic acid test specimens in our laboratory ranged from 102 to 2170 per day, and the number of antibody test specimens ranged from 24 to 391 per day. There were four main considerations in the treatment and detection of suspected-case specimens in the clinical laboratory: biosafety management in clinical laboratory departments, measures to ensure the health of the staff, the eight time points for processing suspected-case samples (turn-around time), and key points for the detection of suspected case specimens.Conclusion: The laboratory devel