Jeremy Rockliff,Minister for Health
Tasmania has reached a significant milestone of 500,000 PCR tests processed for COVID-19 at the Royal Hobart Hospital Molecular Laboratory since the start of the pandemic.
This is an outstanding effort by everyone involved, including the staff who have turned out to State-run clinics to test Tasmanians and visitors to our State each and every day – rain, hail or shine.
Around 80 per cent of the overall number of testing samples have been collected in State-run testing clinics, with those in the laboratory processing hundreds, if not thousands of tests daily.
More than 20 laboratory staff have been working on processing COVID tests across the past two years, a process that begins with registering and checking samples in the pre-analytic department, performing the test in the laboratory, then releasing and analysing the results.
This achievement could not have happened without the hard work of the supply and purchasing department, the laboratory IT department and staff volunteering to assist from all areas in pathology and Forensic Science Service Tasmania.
At the onset of the pandemic in early 2020, PCR testing for COVID-19 was a critical element of the State’s initial response to detect and isolate positive cases and to prevent the spread of the virus. The first PCR tests were processed through the laboratory in February 2020 and have continued every day since then, including on weekends and public holidays.
While the full reopening of Tasmania’s borders in December last year has enabled greater availability of rapid antigen tests (RATs) in recent months, PCR testing remains a very important part of Tasmania’s response to managing COVID-19 in the community.
As part of the Winter Strategy to manage respiratory illness in Tasmania this winter, the laboratory has expanded systems for detection of influenza as well as COVID-19 from a single swab, should Tasmania experience a winter influenza outbreak. This will enable early detection of influenza in vulnerable cohorts of Tasmanians, to facilitate early and accurate treatment.
Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, our hard-working staff right across the health system have embraced the challenges and continued to play a very important role in serving the Tasmanian community.
I thank them for their dedication, commitment and professionalism.
