A*Star Says COVID-19 Testing Lab Can Be Deployed For Future Screenings of Other Infectious Diseases

The COVID-19 pandemic will eventually be over, but what’s going to happen to labs that are used for COVID-19 testing?

Well, given how “kiasu” Singapore is, you can bet that there’s a plan for it.

According to Professor Patrick Tan, founding programme director of Stronghold Diagnostics Lab and executive director of the Agency for Science, Technology and Research (A*Star) Genome Institute of Singapore, one of the labs can also be used for other screening efforts in the future. 

The Stronghold Diagnostics Lab was set up by the A*Star and the National University Health System (NUHS). Operational since mid-2020, the lab was created to enhance national polymerase chain reaction (PCR) testing abilities. 

The Ministry of Health (MOH) had asked A*Star and its partners to contribute to national testing efforts. 

Testing facilities were then set up in laboratories at Biopolis. The clinical director and initial laboratory testing training were provided by NUHS, while testing apparatus and diagnostic kits were provided by Temasek Foundation. 

According to Prof Tan, the lab processes tests from plenty of sources such as the local community, dormitories and hotels that have been repurposed for those serving their Stay-Home Notice (SHN). 

The lab consists of over 150 staff members who have been specially employed including volunteer scientists from A*Star, medical staff from NUHS, universities, as well as fresh graduates and professionals, all equipped with the relevant expertise. 

All lab staff have to go through COVID-19 biosafety training, as well as familiarise themselves with the necessary processes required for personal protective equipment (PPE). 

Singapore announced in 2020 that its target is to administer around 40,000 COVID-19 tests a day. Currently, the testing rate from the past week is recorded at around 34,800 tests a day – that’s a lot of tests a day.

Automation has also been tapped on to facilitate processes, as well as due to demands for scale. 

An example of automation used is the Bio Rapid Automated Valence Engine which was developed by A*Star. The system includes robotic systems to handle test samples, such as sealing and uncapping test tubes, as well as pipetting liquids. 

According to A*Star, this use of automation helps to reduce human errors and mitigate problems of contamination and risk of infection among lab staff. 

COVID-19 Neutralising Antibody Test Kit is World’s First

Did you know that last year, Singapore produced the world’s first-ever serology test for neutralising antibodies? 

Essentially, it’s a kit that detects whether a person has antibodies that can neutralise the coronavirus.

You can watch this video to the end to understand the two different types of COVID-19 tests:

This kit is known as cPass, and it was created by a team led by Professor Wang Linfa, director of Duke-NUS’ infectious diseases programme. 

It was co-developed with biotech company GenScript Biotech Corporation and A*Star Diagnostics Development Hub. 

The US’ Food and Drug Administration (FDA) had authorised cPass for emergency use. 

You can read more about it here.

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