Vilnius residents are concerned about cold rooms, where rapid tests for COVID-19 are carried out – all according to instructions



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Vincentas said that the rapid test for COVID-19 in Vilnius, V.Gerulaičio str. 1, housed in a mobile checkpoint that was converted into a large research campus, was conducted over the weekend.

And I was very surprised that the test room was kept with the door constantly open and no incubators were used to maintain temperature for the tests performed.

The temperature seems too low

“The temperature in the room during the test could be 0 to 3 degrees hot. I will emphasize that the manufacturers of rapid tests specify the operating temperature of the test at a temperature of 15 to 30 degrees. I will also emphasize that it is clear to people with a background in chemical science that chemical processes slow down at low temperatures. However, the result was expected in just 6 minutes. After them, the test was evaluated as negative. This is too short a time, especially considering the temperature. In other words, the wait is shorter than recommended by the manufacturer and at a much lower temperature than specified by the manufacturer.

I will not dare to evaluate how the reliability of the test can change at such low temperatures (manufacturers do not provide that information themselves or I did not find it), but there are reasonable assumptions that such low temperature use tests can dramatically increase the percentage of false negative results, “shared Vincent.

The ambient temperature during the test could be between 0 and 3 degrees. I will emphasize that the manufacturers of rapid tests specify the operating temperature of the test at a temperature of 15 to 30 degrees.

According to him, when drawing blood, the finger was still wet from the alcohol used to disinfect:

“He sucked blood along with some alcohol. Here again, in part due to the temperature, so cold that even the alcohol doesn’t dry out. The test may not be used correctly, “said the Vilnius resident.

Requirements met

The Vilnius Public Health Office “Vilnius Healthier” is in charge of mobile points where there are test sites in the capital.

Its director Guoda Ropaitė-Beigė made sure that all safety requirements were met, so there is nothing to worry about.

“All labor and safety requirements related to COVID-19 infection are met at the mobile test sites. According to the instructions for use for rapid immunochromatographic tests designed for the qualitative detection of IgG and IgM antibodies to SARS-CoV-2 in a sample of human blood, blood plasma or blood serum, they are stored in original packages sealed at 2- 30 ° C and the samples before the test are heated to the required temperature of 15 to 30 ° C.

We can ensure that every day before the start of the activities of the mobile points and throughout the working day, the air temperature in the room is constantly checked thoroughly as defined in the instructions for use of the tests, ”said G. Ropaitė-Beigė.

According to the statistics available to the Office, the average number of rapid antibody tests carried out per day is about 75.



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