BIOCEV has been granted permission to conduct large-capacity COVID-19 testing
Press Releases — 26.03.2020

BIOCEV has been granted permission to conduct large-capacity COVID-19 testing

More than one thousand samples a day can be tested by the international research team at BIOCEV, a joint centre of the Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic and Charles University. A decision was reached today by the National Institute of Public Health.

The Biotechnology and Biomedicine Centre in Vestec will join the initiative of Czech academic centres to speed up testing of the presence of SARS-CoV-2, the cause of COVID-19. Laboratories complying with the most strict criteria for working with contagious biological samples have been designated and specially modified to test the presence of the virus in the population.

“Our staff is properly trained and has long-term experience with manual sample isolation and detection, and knows how to operate cutting-edge technology,” says RNDr. Ruth Tachezy, the main testing coordinator at BIOCEV.

Tests will be performed by the virological laboratories and research infrastructure of the First Faculty of Medicine and the Faculty of Science at Charles University, and the Biotechnology Institute and the Institute of Molecular Genetics at the Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic. A support and administrative team comprising researchers and technical staff from BIOCEV has also been put together.

“Increasing capacities to test for the presence of new coronavirus will significantly help to manage the current emergency situation and the involvement of science and research centres is a logical solution to address the issue of the lack of qualified staff and instrumentation. I believe that our people will contribute to getting the situation soon under control,” said Prof. Pavel Martásek, Director of BIOCEV.

 

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