Ann Clin Microbiol.  2020 Dec;23(4):225-231. 10.5145/ACM.2020.23.4.1.

Experience at Department of Laboratory Medicine during the COVID-19 Outbreak in Daegu

Affiliations
  • 1Department of Laboratory Medicine, Keimyung University School of Medicine, Korea
  • 2Daegu Dongsan Hospital, Daegu, Korea

Abstract

The first case of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) in Korea was reported in January 2020. As the secondary transmissions accelerated within the country, the government revised the outbreak alert for COVID-19 from attention to caution. Mid-February, when a massive outbreak was reported from a church in Daegu, our institution initiated testing for severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). More than 300 laboratory tests were performed within the first 2 months, before the number of cases began to decline. Here, we describe our experience of 4 months at the department of Laboratory Medicine, Keimyung University Dongsan Hospital, located in Daegu, where a massive COVID-19 outbreak occurred.

Keyword

COVID-19; Daegu; Laboratory medicine; PCR; SARS-CoV-2

Figure

  • Fig. 1. Distribution of "Indeterminate" results according to three specific genes, separately or in combination.Abbreviations: R, RNA-dependent RNA polymerase gene; E, envelope gene; N, nucleocapsid gene.

  • Fig. 2. Status of SARS-CoV-2 molecular tests with newly confirmed cases. The newly confirmed cases displayed in orange within positive cases (blue bar).

  • Fig. 3. Cumulative monthly number of SARS-CoV-2 molecular tests and positive rate.


Reference

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2. Ge H, Wang X, Yuan X, Xiao G, Wang C, Deng T, et al. The epidemiology and clinical information about COVID-19. Eur J Clin Microbiol Infect Dis 2020;39:1011-9.
3. Hong KH, Lee SW, Kim TS, Huh HJ, Lee J, Kim SY, et al. Guidelines for laboratory diagnosis of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) in Korea. Ann Lab Med 2020;40:351-60.
4. Sung H, Roh KH, Hong KH, Seong MW, Ryoo N, Kim HS, et al. COVID-19 molecular testing in Korea: practical essentials and answers from experts based on experiences of emergency use authorization assays. Ann Lab Med 2020;40:439-47.
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