Faith Hospital on Cayman Brac can now conduct its own high-speed COVID-19 tests, and will no longer have to send samples to Grand Cayman for processing.
The hospital has acquired a GeneXpert machine which provides real-time polymerase chain reaction test results for COVID-19 faster than the traditional PCR machine, according to a press release from the Health Services Authority.
Sister Islands residents who meet the relevant criteria for isolating will be able to spend the mandatory 14-day quarantine period at home as part of the government’s quarantine-at-residence programme, it was announced earlier this month.
To take part, returning residents must have their homes pre-approved by the Public Health Department and wear monitoring technology. Their tests will be processed through the GeneXpert.
“For our patients who would need hospital admissions and emergency procedures, we will be able to do the test faster to receive the result within an hour,” said Dr. Srirangan Velusamy, director of Sister Islands Health Services, in the press release.
“Previously all samples were sent to HSA’s Forensics Lab on Grand Cayman for PCR testing. Having this machine on Cayman Brac will allow HSA to better serve our Sister Islands community.”
HSA laboratory staff at Faith Hospital have been fully trained and certified to use the GeneXpert using Public Health England guidelines, the HSA said.
“The GeneXpert has capacity to run four samples per testing cycle. Therefore, if the lab has more than four samples results will take longer than an hour due to the machine’s capacity,” Velusamy said.
HSA CEO Lizzette Yearwood described the work involved in acquiring the technology.
“A lot of effort went into getting this machine to Faith Hospital,” she said. “In addition to procuring the machine, which is in high demand, the laboratory at Faith Hospital was upgraded in order to allow space for processing the tests.
“We are pleased to now have the machine validated and other laboratory equipment certified. This is another step in our country’s efforts to keep Cayman safe from any spreading of COVID-19.”
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