By Mao Xinhui
On the battlefield against COVID-19 epidemic in Yangpu District, there is such a team, each one of which is a "courier", rushing day or night between quarantine site and designated hospital in this district.
As a sample transfer team comprising 12 members of District Center for Disease Control and Prevention, they undertake the work of counting, checking and transferring all samples throughout the district. Since the onset of COVID-19 epidemic, nucleic acid test samples must move from big streets and small alleys of Yangpu District to the laboratory via their hands in a safe and quick manner.
Due to specific nature of sample transfer, whether winter or summer, rain or shine, day or night, they are always wrapped in tight "big whites".
To facilitate suspected personnel samples quickly reaching urban and district disease control laboratory, transportation team delivers samples by relay. Transfer personnel must locate transportation process at all times, and coordinative personnel communicate with quarantine site and laboratory in real time, thereby ensuring utmost efficiency of transfer.
Sample transfer is more than point-to-point transportation of samples, but it also requires a fast, efficient and accurate check of collected samples, including personnel information, sample number, category, quantity, collection time, collection location, collection person and so forth. In case of discovering sample number error, discrepancy between sample quantity and sample receipt, or incorrect sample pick-up by a third-party company, "big whites" must deal with them promptly, without going awry anyway.