Quebec specialists are preparing for the possible arrival of the coronavirus in the province. They are preparing to receive many requests for analyzes from hospitals.
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It is in the laboratories of the National Institute of Public Health of Quebec, in Sainte-Anne-de-Bellevue, that we will detect, thanks to analyzes, if patients have contracted the Chinese coronavirus which worries the whole world.
To date, only two Montreal hospitals have requested tests for patients who have stayed in China recently.
“If the World Health Organization decrees that the whole of China is potentially at risk, there we will have a lot”,
The virus’s genetic code, which is unknown, consists of 30,000 letters. “We arrange for the tests that we have developed for this virus to recognize only this virus”, explains Hugues Charest, head of the molecular biology sector.
The Chinese coronavirus is 80% like SARS, which killed nearly 800 people worldwide in 2002-2003. Many safety measures have been taken in the laboratory.
“Mask, glasses, safety jacket … And all working conditions in a higher containment level,” said Lyne Desautels, coordinator of the molecular biology sector.
If we have to increase security, we will find ourselves at level 3.
“All the air that comes in from containment level 3 is filtered by two sets of HEPA filters, before being released to the outside. The last time we used it was for EBOLA, ”says Charest.
What worries the researchers is that we do not yet know the incubation time of the virus.
INSPQ specialists, who receive 75,000 requests for analysis of all kinds each year, have seen others.
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