Experience in the Department of Diagnostic Laboratory Medicine at a University Hospital in Daegu During the COVID-19 Pandemic

Abstract

The first case of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) in Korea was reported in January 2020. As the secondary transmissions accelerated within the country, the government revised the outbreak alert for COVID-19 from attention to caution. Mid-February, when a massive outbreak was reported from a church in Daegu, our institution initiated testing for severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). More than 300 laboratory tests were performed within the first 2 months before the number of cases began to decline. Here, we describe our experience of 4 months at the Department of Laboratory Medicine, Keimyung University Dongsan Hospital, located in Daegu,where a massive COVID-19 outbreak occurred.