Investigation of biosecurity measures in COVID-19 test laboratories

The aim of this research is to investigate comprehensively and holistically the biosecurity measures in various Covid-19 test laboratories, including Eskişehir City Hospital, Eskişehir Yunus Emre State Hospital and Ankara City Hospital. In the line with this purpose, the biosecurity measures in the Covid-19 test laboratories of each hospital are handled individually. The observations in the aforementioned hospitals, approved by the Eskişehir Provincial Health Directorate, the Ankara Provincial Health Directorate and the chief physicians of the hospital, are conducted under the physicians who are in charge of the laboratory. The sample of the study, based on the observation approach, consists of various phases, including, the swab from the patient to the test results, transport measures, measures to protect the personnel and test security. Furthermore, a risk assessment is performed for the investigated laboratories based on the L-type matrix method and then the required biosecurity measures are listed respectively. The results of the risk assessment are indicated that the risks having the highest scores in the Covid-19 test laboratories are listed as bodily fluid splashes and infection, respectively. At the end of the study, it is observed that personnel, test safety and the measures taken in the Covid-19 test laboratories to minimize the risk are improved significantly. In the light of the results obtained from the study, a variety of recommendations for an ideal laboratory design are addressed at the end of this study.