Alongside Laboratoires Réunis Luxembourg, Ecolog International are responsible for the necessary preparations, analysis and testing capacity within the framework of large-scale screening in the Grand Duchy. They allowed RTL to take a look behind the scenes at a testing station.
The country's 17 screening stations were set up in record time and prepped to quickly perform up to 20,000 tests per day.
Ecolog was responsible for the assembly and management of the centres, as well transporting samples to the analysis centre in Junglinster. An additional analysis unit was also installed there in order to be able to respect the 48-hour window to deliver results to patients, explained André Hansen, who leads the project.
Changes at test stations
In recent weeks, Ecolog International has taken feedback from test centre staff and local authorities into account and made changes accordingly.
In Steinfort, for example, two stations have merged to allow better capacity. A centre in Luxembourg City's Neudorf district shut down faster than anticipated, making way for a new centre near Tandel in Diekirch, where there was a shortage.
9,000 tests dailyThe testing capacity is currently approximately 9,000 per day. Authorities explained the country is currently in a transitional phase in which capacity has been reduced, but this can be quickly and easily increased when people return from summer holidays, or when school resumes in September.
If an outbreak is reported, it can be covered by a special on-site team using mobile teams and labs. Tailor-made screening can therefore be offered if necessary.
The Ecolog team will also be able to take blood samples in the future in order to detect the presence of antibodies.
