The National Laboratory has opened its doors: see how coronavirus tests are done

The National Public Health Laboratory (NVSPL) opened its doors to journalists on Friday. On that occasion, Aurelius Veryga demonstrated how the sampling was done, and journalists were later invited to the lab to see what was happening with the samples.

However, such a study is not new to A. Veryga. According to the interim minister, he needs to do them every week.

The coronavirus smear is taken while the acting minister is sitting in the car. From there, the stain continues to the reception department where it is recorded. After registration, take the elevator to the third floor of the laboratory and from there to the so-called laminar.

A laminator, or laminar cabinet, is designed to work with bacteria, viruses, cells, or toxic substances. Blow air through filters, creating laminar flow. This stream precipitates airborne particles, bacteria and viruses, and the precipitated particles are removed from the work environment through cavities in the table.

According to Ilona Razmienė, Head of the Department of Clinical Research at NVSPL, automatic extraction of viral RNA occurs later, when viral RNA is isolated.

The next stage, which, according to I. Razmienė, is more technical, is the mixture of virus and reagent. This mixture is placed in a thermocyclic apparatus where the polymerase chain reaction takes place, as well as automatic data analysis.

Based on the results, the data is taken to an electronic health page where a person can see if they are infected with the coronavirus or not.

Simultaneously, 94 samples were examined for specification of measurements. Everything takes about 5-6 hours. I. Razmienė says there are also unclear sample results that need to be repeated. In this case, the investigation time may be longer.

In Lithuania, about 12-15 thousand such tests are performed per day, and in this laboratory about 350-400.

The necessary measures will not be enough until Christmas

It was announced this week that most of the tools available for coronavirus testing would not be sufficient until Christmas, and that they would not reach their doctors until early next year under normal and time-consuming procurement procedures.

Therefore, the NSAIDs decided to buy the measures, as they themselves described, through improved recruitment.

“It simply came to our attention until mid-December. We are currently carrying out a new type of contracting, following the Public Procurement Law and improving it a bit, and we are conducting open but unprecedented negotiations. Currently, there are already 18 companies that will participate in this competition and we will have results next week, ”said Dan Bakša, director of NVSPL, on Friday in the lab.

However, the Office of Public Procurement criticized the decision, saying the law did not provide for it. D. Bakša responded briefly to the criticisms: “We need to ensure the continuity of the investigation and we are trying to do so. And to all those looking for something to criticize, I can only wish you good luck. If you want to help, you can help, and if not, let them criticize. “

The acting minister also commented on the situation.

“It would be better not to have such disputes with the Public Procurement Office. But all kinds of situations happen. Planning [priemonių pirkimo] It started very early, calculated according to the situation he was in. And regents were bought, they had to be enough by the end of January. Unfortunately, the situation deteriorated very quickly, the scope of testing had to be increased, which led to such a situation. The purchases that were agreed to now will simply not be possible until more measures are needed, ”said A. Veryga.