Experience at Department of Laboratory Medicine during the COVID-19 Outbreak in Daegu

Author: Sunggyun PARK ¹ ; Do-Hoon KIM ; Won-Mok LEE ; Ung-Sook HA ; Dong-Seok JEON ; Jae-Hee LEE ; Namhee RYOO
Author Information

1. Department of Laboratory Medicine, Keimyung University School of Medicine, Korea
Publication Type:Editorial
From:Annals of Clinical Microbiology 2020;23(4):225-231
CountryRepublic of Korea
Language:English
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.