PRESS RELEASE NO.: 2020 – 053
COVID-19 Laboratory Testing Update by Guam Public Health Laboratory
The Department of Public Health and Social Services (DPHSS) Guam Public Health Laboratory (GPHL) received an update from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) that rigorous quality control (QC) measures have identified assay component issues. To address this issue, U.S. CDC is remanufacturing the complete test kits to ensure that laboratories have effective and reliable kits. Therefore, many U.S. state and territorial laboratories, including GPHL, will begin testing locally once the remanufactured test kits arrive on Guam. There is no specific timeframe of its arrival on Guam.
Currently, all testing, initial and confirmatory testing, for COVID-19 continues to be performed at U.S. CDC.
The GPHL is a bio-safety level two laboratory and has maintained certification under the Clinical Laboratory Improvement Amendments (CLIA) for decades. It also holds a certificate from the International Air Transport Association (IATA). The U.S. Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) regulates all laboratory testing performed on humans in the U.S. through CLIA.
For more information, contact Anne Marie Santos, GPHL Laboratory Administrator via email at annemarie.santos@dphss.guam.gov.
LINDA UNPINGCO DENORCEY, MPH
DIRECTOR
