National Taiwan University yesterday offered to let the government use its laboratories to assist in COVID-19 polymerase chain reaction (PCR) testing, university president Kuan Chung-ming (管中閔) said.
Kuan wrote on Facebook that the university would be happy to provide its facilities for COVID-19 testing, adding that the government would first need to review any legal or virus testing venue restrictions.
There are 117 P2-rated laboratories on the university’s campuses, the university said yesterday.
Photo: CNA
Its School of Veterinary Medicine has contacted the Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC), which would determine how to best utilize the facilities, it added.
There are 169 departments in 60 universities equipped with PCR-capable facilities in Taiwan, said Wei Chia-hui (魏佳卉), an executive director of Unews.com.tw, an online platform for students applying to universities.
With the additional facilities, the nation could increase its daily testing by 80,000, she said.
The CECC should use these facilities and personnel to help test cases, while participating universities would be happy to help, Wei said.
The Taiwan Association of Medical Technologists could also convene members licensed for virus testing to form a team of volunteers to assist local health authorities with testing at university labs, she said.
Meanwhile, Academia Sinica on Friday said that it purchased a high throughput instrument to handle 1,000 biological samples per day.
The institution contacted the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard to learn from its experience with the equipment, it said.
It has enlisted 12 PCR facilities and 20 operators to assist the CECC with testing, Academia Sinica said.
However, the problem of delayed virus sample testing, which resulted in backlogged cases, was not caused by insufficient testing equipment or operators, but a number of factors, including sample collection and treatment, RNA extraction, and data analysis and compilation, it said.
Not anyone with a PCR-capable facility can join the virus testing, it said, adding that testing results must be consistent.
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC) donated to Tainan a zero-contact COVID-19 testing station, which would be operated by medical teams from Chi Mei Hospital in the city’s Yongkang District (永康), the Tainan City Government said on Friday.
The station, which is expected to be operational in two weeks, could complete PCR tests within 25 minutes, the hospital said.
All tests conducted at the station would be paid out of pocket and each exam would be expedited for faster results, it added.
In accordance with Centers for Disease Control regulations, anyone wishing to take tests at the station must register online, the hospital said.
The station could introduce a standard operating procedure for taking and analyzing samples, and reduce the number of false negative results, while lowering the risks to personnel taking the samples, it said.
This would allow hospitals to continue daily operations without interruption, it added.
The TSMC Charity Foundation said it chose to place the station in the Tainan Science Park as employees in the area would need to travel more often, and are required to provide a negative COVID-19 PCR test when traveling.
The station includes positive and negative air pressure areas, air conditioning and ultraviolet lighting for disinfection, the foundation said, adding that it is also equipped with bio-containment measures.
Additional reporting by Yang Yuan-ting
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