COVID-19 Confirmed Through Approximately 19,000 Diagnostic Tests, Contributing to Containment

[Suwon Ilbo=Reporter Park No-hoon] The Gyeonggi Province Health and Environment Research Institute announced on the 6th that it has conducted 19,148 COVID-19 diagnostic tests from January 26, when the first confirmed case in the province occurred, through 9:00 a.m. on May 6.
Corresponding to an average of approximately 200 cases per day, the Gyeonggi Province Health and Environment Research Institute has been operating a 'COVID-19 Laboratory Testing Emergency Response Team' since January 24, maintaining 24-hour emergency operations both day and night. Of the 19,148 cases, 18,956 tested negative, 177 tested positive, and 15 were undetermined.

The Institute notably applied the COVID-19 specimen pooling testing method (pooling), jointly developed by the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency and the Korean Association of Laboratory Medicine, for the first time among health and environment research institutes nationwide, playing a role in preventing regional spread of COVID-19.
Pooling testing differs from the conventional method of testing one person's specimen at a time by mixing specimens from approximately 5-10 people and testing them all at once. If the test subjects are all negative, they pass as is, and if positive results appear, only the relevant group undergoes separate individual testing. This method has the advantage of being on average 50% faster in diagnosis speed compared to existing individual testing.
The Gyeonggi Province Health and Environment Research Institute tested 3,979 caregivers, staff, and hospitalized patients from 30 nursing hospitals in the province where cluster outbreaks had occurred, including Gunpo (Hyosarang Nursing Home) and Uijeongbu (St. Mary's Hospital), using the pooling testing method, and confirmed all as negative.

Additionally, since March 27, the Institute has been conducting full-scale COVID-19 testing on approximately 9,000 residents who have entered the country from abroad, working to prevent regional community spread of COVID-19 through overseas inflow.

Yun Mi-hye, Director of the Gyeonggi Province Health and Environment Research Institute, said, "Since late January, we have responded to COVID-19 diagnostic testing by utilizing all available personnel and equipment at the institute," and added, "Until COVID-19 is resolved with the development of treatments and vaccines, we will continue testing centered on the emergency response team for the safety of residents."