Abstract
The first case of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) in Korea was reported in January 2020. As the secondary transmissions accelerated within the country, the government revised the outbreak alert for COVID-19 from attention to caution. Mid-February, when a massive outbreak was reported from a church in Daegu, our institution initiated testing for severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). More than 300 laboratory tests were performed within the first 2 months, before the number of cases began to decline. Here, we describe our experience of 4 months at the department of Laboratory Medicine, Keimyung University Dongsan Hospital, located in Daegu, where a massive COVID-19 outbreak occurred.
Keywords
COVID-19, Daegu, Laboratory medicine, PCR, SARS-CoV-2
Figures & Tables
Fig. 1. Distribution of "Indeterminate" results according to three specific genes, separately or in combination.Abbreviations: R, RNA-dependent RNA polymerase gene; E, envelope gene; N, nucleocapsid gene.
Figures & Tables
Table 1. Criteria for the interpretation of SARS-CoV-2 molecular tests in the confirmed patients
Ct values for: | Interpretation (1st Ed) | Interpretation (5th Ed) | |||
E | RdRp | N | IC | ||
<40 | <40 | <40 | <40 | Positive | Positive |
<40 | <40 | <40 | ≥40 | Positive | Positive |
≥40 | ≥40 | ≥40 | <40 | Negative | Negative |
≥40 | <40 | <40 | ≥40 | Repeat (Seegene) | Repeat after reextraction (Seegene) |
<40 | ≥40 | <40 | |||
<40 | <40 | ≥40 | |||
≥40 | ≥40 | <40 | |||
≥40 | <40 | ≥40 | |||
<40 | ≥40 | ≥40 | |||
≥40 | ≥40 | ≥40 | |||
≥40 | <40 | <40 | <40 | Indeterminate | Indeterminate |
<40 | ≥40 | <40 | |||
<40 | <40 | ≥40 | |||
≥40 | ≥40 | <40 | |||
≥40 | <40 | ≥40 | |||
<40 | ≥40 | ≥40 |