QEH lab working overtime to get thousands of COVID-19 tests processed

The COVID-19 testing lab at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Charlottetown has done nearly as many tests in the first 16 days of July as it did in the entire month of June.

In late April, the lab was capable of processing up to 2,000 tests a week, but it never reached close to that number. That is, until two clusters of cases made rapid testing imperative over the last two weeks.

In the past seven days, the lab has processed nearly 2,500 tests. Since the beginning of July, 4,709 tests have been completed. In all of June, 5,430 test were done.

The Queen Elizabeth Hospital testing lab is just one of two COVID-19 testing labs on the Island.

Working overtime

To manage the high volume of testing, hospital staff are putting in extra hours. 

Health PEI says employees are working overtime, including one staff member that was called back into work while on vacation to fill in for two staff members who became ill.  

Along with staff, additional labs and resources are being utilized. The hematology lab and Prince County Hospital labs are all being used to process the tests.

Dr. Greg German, a medical microbiologist at Health PEI, has been on call 24 hours a day, seven days a week for the last two weeks. He has come in late at night to help with the setup of specimens and manage the results. The chief technologist for QEH, Vanessa Arsenault, has been assisting with specimens as well. 

Added test site

In response to the recent outbreak of COVID-19, Health PEI set up a mobile testing clinic at Stonepark Intermediate School in Charlottetown.

It is meant as a supplement to the testing clinic at the Eastlink Centre. It will operate for the next few weeks and will undergo an assessment afterward. 

This is in addition to the clinic in Summerside and one in Borden-Carleton, which is designated for essential workers. 

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