COVID-19 Biosafety in Clinical Laboratories

Improving Biosafety in Clinical Laboratories During the COVID-19 Pandemic

• The World Health Organization declared COVID-19 a global pandemic on March 11, 2020.
• Clinical and public health laboratories are becoming overwhelmed due to the community-spread of the disease in the US.
• Laboratories are at high risk for infection if not fully prepared due to staff shortages, overwhelming workloads, and lack of funding.
• Only a small percentage of clinical laboratories have performed documented risk assessments on hazardous procedures or implemented effective training in biosafety.
• Biosafety training tends to be overlooked or only mentioned upon hire, and is not built into the laboratory competency program.
• Public health laboratories have a key role to play in training clinical laboratories on risk assessments and biosafety, and in advocating for safer regulations.
• There is little regulatory oversight for a laboratory to attain biosafety to its fullest extent.
• Clinical laboratories must voluntarily boost their safety by implementing all possible safety precautions.
• Risk assessments are imperative on all laboratory procedures in which the virus may be present in specimens, and must be written and documented by lab managers.
• Biosafety level 3 practices should be used in a clinical BSL-2 laboratory, with protection of eyes and mouth using N95 respirators and disposable face shields, in addition to universal precautions of impermeable lab coats and gloves.
• PHLs can provide assistance on risk assessment to help clinical laboratories fully document a risk assessment with steps to mitigate each risk.
• Laboratories must take an abundance of precaution until the scientific world knows exactly how dangerous this virus is, and follow extreme measures to enhance safety during patient management.

Improving Biosafety in Clinical Laboratories During the COVID-19 Pandemic

• The World Health Organization declared COVID-19 a global pandemic on March 11, 2020.
• Clinical and public health laboratories are becoming overwhelmed due to the community-spread of the disease in the US.
• Laboratories are at high risk for infection if not fully prepared due to staff shortages, overwhelming workloads, and lack of funding.
• Only a small percentage of clinical laboratories have performed documented risk assessments on hazardous procedures or implemented effective training in biosafety.
• Biosafety training tends to be overlooked or only mentioned upon hire, and is not built into the laboratory competency program.
• Public health laboratories have a key role to play in training clinical laboratories on risk assessments and biosafety, and in advocating for safer regulations.
• There is little regulatory oversight for a laboratory to attain biosafety to its fullest extent.
• Clinical laboratories must voluntarily boost their safety by implementing all possible safety precautions.
• Risk assessments are imperative on all laboratory procedures in which the virus may be present in specimens, and must be written and documented by lab managers.
• Biosafety level 3 practices should be used in a clinical BSL-2 laboratory, with protection of eyes and mouth using N95 respirators and disposable face shields, in addition to universal precautions of impermeable lab coats and gloves.
• PHLs can provide assistance on risk assessment to help clinical laboratories fully document a risk assessment with steps to mitigate each risk.
• Laboratories must take an abundance of precaution until the scientific world knows exactly how dangerous this virus is, and follow extreme measures to enhance safety during patient management.

Test your knowledge on improving biosafety in clinical laboratories during the COVID-19 pandemic with this informative quiz. Learn about the risks laboratories face, the importance of biosafety training, and the necessary precautions required to mitigate these risks. Discover how public health laboratories can help clinical laboratories with risk assessments, and what biosafety level practices should be used in a clinical laboratory. Challenge yourself and learn how to enhance safety for patients and laboratory staff during the pandemic.