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From patient to laboratory: tracking a COVID-19 sample

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Gathering and testing samples to determine whether a person has COVID-19 is a multi-step process. Throughout the Eastern Mediterranean Region, WHO is training health workers, supplying testing kits and ensuring laboratories have what they need to make accurate analyses.

Click through this photo gallery to follow a COVID-19 sample from patient to laboratory to final confirmation.

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Islamic Republic of Iran has suffered thousands of COVID-19 deaths. The country has joined WHO’s Solidarity Trial to test potential treatments. WHO handed over Solidarity Trial medications to the country’s Ministry of Health and Medical Education.
In Pakistan, community health workers fan out in cities and small villages to test people suspected of having COVID-19. WHO helps governments train their teams so they know how to collect a sample safely and document who may be sick where.
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In Somalia, WHO and United Nations partners are improving laboratory capacity for COVID-19 testing under the leadership of the country’s Ministry of Health and Medical Education. Photo courtesy of United Nations Population Fund.
Health workers take a swab to send for testing in a laboratory. WHO has supplied kits to test hundreds of thousands of people across the Region.
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The Gaza Strip is facing a chronic shortage of essential medical supplies for COVID-19. WHO procured 5 laboratory kits to support testing of hundreds of people in Gaza Strip, with more essential supplies on the way.
In Pakistan, WHO-supported polio teams are transferring their longstanding expertise in community health work to detect COVID-19 cases. Here, a COVID-19 team member labels a sample to be tested.
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In the city of Aden in Yemen, WHO and partners trained 40 medical staff working in isolation units. The training covered therapy, infection prevention and control, and psychological first aid.
In Iraq, a team of university scientists are locally producing viral transport medium, a substance which ensures that swab samples are properly preserved on the way to the laboratory.
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In Afghanistan, the head of the pharmacy unit at Afghan Japan Infectious Disease Hospital expressed gratitude for WHO’s support: “The timely provision of medical equipment and supplies from the beginning of the COVID-19 outbreak helped us address the existing problems and respond to the ongoing pandemic.”
In some cases, teams go door to door to collect samples. In other cases, people come to designated health facilities to be tested for COVID-19. Health workers at such sites may take extra precautions to avoid infections, as with this primary health care centre in the Islamic Republic of Iran.
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In Lebanon, WHO Representative Dr Iman Shankiti met with a fashion designer (right) to discuss options for making coveralls, gowns, and other protective gear for health workers.
A critical step before final analysis is extracting genetic material from a sample. This machine at a laboratory in Jordan enables automated extraction by processing dozens of samples at a time.
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In Lebanon, WHO Representative Dr Iman Shankiti met with a fashion designer (right) to discuss options for making coveralls, gowns, and other protective gear for health workers.
The final step in the testing process requires a PCR machine, which detects whether a sample contains the nucleic acid of the SARS-CoV-2 virus. WHO has given PCR machines to many laboratories in the Region, such as this laboratory in Yemen.
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In Lebanon, WHO Representative Dr Iman Shankiti met with a fashion designer (right) to discuss options for making coveralls, gowns, and other protective gear for health workers.
Hundreds of thousands of people have been tested for COVID-19 thanks to WHO support. WHO has also equipped health facilities with essential medical supplies, including oxygen for patients like this man in a COVID-19 isolation centre in Somalia.