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Inside B.C.’s testing laboratory, technologists hunt for active cases and antibodies (BCCUS & SPH Dr. Marc Romney)

A medical lab technologist tests COVID-19 samples at the B.C. Centre for Disease Control lab in Vancouver on May 15, 2020. (Photo credit: CBC News)

Technologists test for positive, active cases, while experts hunt for past infections

Inside the testing area at the B.C. Centre for Disease Control’s central laboratory in Vancouver, recirculated air carries a metallic smell. Medical lab technologists work quietly against the whir of machinery, holding samples between their fingers that could inform the province’s pandemic response.

The lab is one of several sites across B.C. and Canada racing to evaluate serology tests in an effort to better understand whether people who have been infected with COVID-19 are immune to the virus once they recover.

“They are far from perfect,” said Dr. Marc Romney, the division head of microbiology and virology at St. Paul’s Hospital. 

Click here to read the full story on CBC News.

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