COVID-19 testing now completed in 45 minutes

–Minister Anthony

COVID-19 testing at the National Public Health Reference Laboratory can now be completed within 45 minutes, a drastic reduction from the previous eight-to-nine-hour-long process.

Minister of Health, Hon. Dr. Frank Anthony said more samples are being processed in a shorter time since the Government started using the $7.2 million automated extractor donated by the People’s Republic of China.

“I can tell you that we are now able to extract 96 samples within 45 minutes. Our processing time has gone up tremendously so we will be able to do more samples in the timeframe that we used to,” he said during today’s COVID-19 update.

The Minister said another automated extractor, purchased by the Ministry, is being shipped to Guyana.