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More and more western Swedes want to be tested for an ongoing covid-19 infection. To reduce the time a patient has to wait for a test result, the Västra Götaland region is now temporarily reducing its sampling.
– It is unfortunate, but fast response times are essential to detect and stop the chains of infection. We are purposefully working on a number of upcoming solutions to further increase capacity and we hope this will be a temporary measure during this week, Jan Kilhamn, regional covid-19 sampling coordinator, says in a press release.
During october per month, the number of so-called PCR tests performed in Västra Götaland has increased from around 20,000 to about 30,000 samples per week.
This means that the demand for PCR testing is now greater than the ability of laboratories to analyze submitted samples. To give labs a chance to catch up, the number of testing opportunities is reduced by 25 percent during the current week, that is, week 46.
Currently, the Västra Götaland region uses a laboratory at Sahlgrenska University Hospital, Unilabs in Sundsvall and NTC in Stockholm. Kristine Rygge, who is a medical consultant in the Västra Götaland region, says they are working to expand the laboratory’s capacity and are investigating the possibilities of using international suppliers and rapid tests.
– We hope to be able to do it already in week 47 or 48. It is difficult to say exactly how much we will be able to expand, but we would like to have a small margin in the sampling capacity.
According to Kristine Rygge it is basically positive that the public wants to prove themselves. He does not believe that it is a failure that the region is forced to reduce the number of tests.
– What we have achieved is the call to the public to put themselves to the test. It is sad that we cannot cope with it and that the spread of the infection has increased faster than we thought.
The situation in Sweden is similar to that in many other countries, says Kristine Rygge.
– That it appears this is a mixture of overloaded staff, overloaded laboratory resources and increased pressure. The laboratory in Sweden and internationally is experiencing this. He trains fully and has advanced incredibly fast. But at the same time, we are talking about people.
Read the DN news from Gothenburg.
