COVID samples stored at correct temperatures
Sequencing of samples from patients leads to determination of COVID variants. “PCR might look simple, but it is quite a complex process where you through sequencing amplify the SARS genome and determine the variant”, Luke Rigby ads.
The samples are stored in the refrigerators and freezers at different temperatures. Not all samples are kept at critical or extreme temperatures (2-8°C), however stable temperatures are a necessity. And Luke Rigby explains; “if you compare the Gram BioLines cabinets with the domestic ones we used earlier, these are so much better. When logging the old refrigerators, we found that the temperature in the top of the fridge was 2°C and the bottom was 8°C and with Gram BioLine we experience stable temperatures. We only experience 0.1 °C in deviation, which is really, really stable”.
Picture: Luke Rigby, Senior lab Technician at Guernsey State Analytical Laboratory with Sam Stonebridge, Director Bailiwick Refrigeration that supplies, fits and maintains the Gram BioLine cabinets.
An important factor for Guernsey State Analytical Laboratory is that all freezers and refrigerators are mapped and with professional equipment they know that it is mapped automatically. “It is just something we don’t have to worry about anymore, and basically, why would you store £50,000 worth of items in a £500 cabinet? It can be a lifetime’s work that can be lost because of temperature”, Rigby argues.
