Biosafety Capacity Building During the COVID-19 Pandemic: Results, Insights, and Lessons Learned from an Online Approach in the Philippines

Navarro, Rohani C.; Vitor, Rodel Jonathan S; Canoy, Reynand Jay; Tonga, Angelo dela; Ulanday, Gianne Eduard L.; Silva, Mary Rose Claire; Destura, Raul V.

doi:10.1089/apb.2021.0021

Cited by 4 publications

(3 citation statements)

References 10 publications

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“…[23][24][25][26][27][28][29][30][31][32][33] Therefore, personal safety of medical personnel is important for prevention and control. [34][35][36][37][38][39][40][41][42][43][44][45] According to the relevant documents, guidelines and other materials and the working experience of the designated hospital, and in combination with the current situation of the existing sites, equipment, facilities and personnel of the Department, the corresponding prevention, and control plan is formulated. [46,47] From the perspective of the laboratory, this paper discusses how to do a good job in biosafety protection, improve biosafety protection measures, and optimize the workflow.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Biosafety protection and workflow of clinical microbiology laboratory under COVID-19: A review

et al. 2022

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This paper mainly discusses how to do a good job of daily biosafety protection measures in clinical microbiology laboratories during the epidemic of COVID-19, so as to ensure the safe development of routine clinical microbiology testing items. According to the microbiological and epidemiological characteristics of the novel coronavirus, this paper analyzed the potential risks of the laboratory from the perspective of personal protection before, during, and after testing. Combined with the actual work situation, the improved biosafety protection measures and optimized work flow are introduced to ensure the safety of medical staff and the smooth development of daily work. Danyang People’s Hospital of Jiangsu Province, clinical microbiology laboratory of clinical laboratory in strict accordance with the relevant laws and regulations, technical specifications and the expert consensus, combined with their own conditions, the biosafety measures to perfect the working process was optimized, effectively prevent the laboratory exposure, and maintain strict working condition for a long time, continue to improve. We found that the biosafety protection measures of clinical microbiology laboratory have good prevention and control effect on preventing infection of medical staff, which will greatly reduce the risk of infection of medical staff, form good working habits, and provide reference for biosafety protection of microbiology laboratory during the epidemic of COVID-19.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Biosafety protection and workflow of clinical microbiology laboratory under COVID-19: A review

et al. 2022

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“… 1 , 2 They were required to manage facets of protecting individuals within their respective organizations and client base, and within their own communities. 2–4 Biosafety professionals were asked to identify effective cleaning products and disinfectants, 5 resource personal protective equipment (PPE), 6 develop novel respirator reuse strategies, 7 provide guidance to clinical and research laboratories, 8 justify whether plexiglass or other engineering controls were effective, 9 evaluate air filtration systems, 10 develop worker safety training modules, 3 and assess work environments to better protect workers against SARS-CoV-2, 11 long before reliable scientific data were available. This was often accomplished using common sense as well as well-established biosafety risk assessment methodologies.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Experiences During the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Survey of Biosafety Professionals

Gillum

Wyneken

Fletcher³

et al. 2022

Applied Biosafety

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Introduction: Biosafety professionals were called to action during the COVID-19 pandemic. They were tasked with prescribing measures to keep workers and the community safe while often not having accurate information at their fingertips. Understanding biosafety professionals' experiences may help shape new approaches that could further advance preparedness and resilience goals for future pandemics. This article discusses the overall response efforts of the biosafety community. Objectives: The main objective of this article is to quantitatively and qualitatively interrogate the responses to an email survey sent to individuals with biosafety responsibilities during the COVID-19 pandemic. This article catalogues those responses and the different aspects in how biosafety professionals were involved in the pandemic. The focus of this research was on aggregate data and summarized results. Results: A total of 609 out of 654 respondents fully completed the survey, equating to a 93.1% completion rate. Respondents were individuals with varying levels of COVID-19–related responsibilities participating in emergency preparedness and planning, developing laboratory diagnostic capabilities, reviewing clinical trials, developing safety guidelines, writing return-to-work and quarantine procedures, and participating in press releases and communications. Conclusions: Biosafety professionals played important roles during the COVID-19 pandemic, from developing safety protocols for laboratories to resourcing personal protective equipment during a global shortage. They experienced challenges when balancing their home/work lives. Some biosafety professionals were very involved in clinical trials and vaccination efforts, but most were not. Overall, there were significant differences in how biosafety professionals were involved in pandemic response efforts.

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“…In early 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic resulted in restrictions on many types of in-person gatherings, including training. This led to a rapid rise in training courses and seminars that were instead delivered virtually, with the added benefit that these sessions could then be much more globally accessible ( 16 , 17 ). The objective of the training was to help laboratory personnel including private and public laboratories in Pakistan to improve their skills in biorisk management in the context of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Effectiveness of international virtual training on biorisk management in the context of COVID-19

Qasmi

Standley

Mohsin³

et al. 2022

Front. Public Health

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IntroductionThe COVID-19 pandemic has resulted in enormous increases in laboratory activities to keep pace with diagnostic testing and research efforts. However, traditional training, technical assistance, and capacity-building approaches were disrupted by the travel and movement restrictions put in place to control the spread of the disease. To address the needs of laboratorians and managers to conduct laboratory activities safely and securely during the pandemic, a highly interactive virtual training (IVT) workshop on biorisk management during COVID-19 was conducted through active learning strategies that connected speakers with participants. The objective of the training was to increase the basic knowledge and standards of biosafety and biosecurity practices, risk assessment, and control measures with reference specifically to the context of the COVID-19 pandemic and apply a rigorous evaluation methodology to assess the effectiveness of the IVT. The training covered a broad range of topics and encompassed national to international guidelines.MethodsParticipants were selected through official channels at the national level, focusing on institutions within Pakistan. The sessions included lectures from international experts in biorisk management concepts, and incorporated poll questions as well as pre- and post-tests and feedback on the speakers' knowledge and presentation skills, to increase interactivity. The pre- and post-test comprised similar multiple-choice questions and provided to every participant to ascertain the impact of the training on awareness and knowledge of biorisk management topics and concepts, and results were compared using paired t-tests. For feedback on the speakers, participants were asked to submit their ratings measured on a five-point Likert scale. The reliability of the Likert scale was estimated using Cronbach's alpha. Analyses were performed using Microsoft Excel and SPSS version 23.ResultsIn total, 52 individuals from different laboratories across Pakistan and Pakistani students from abroad (China) as well participated in at least one session of the IVT. The participants' pre- and post-test scores showed a significant increase in knowledge and awareness (p < 0.001). The obtained Cronbach's alpha score was >0.8, indicating high reliability of the generated feedback on the IVT approach and speakers.ConclusionThe IVT on biosafety and biosecurity in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic proved beneficial for laboratory professionals and could be a useful model to continue in the future for raising awareness and knowledge.

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Biosafety Capacity Building During the COVID-19 Pandemic: Results, Insights, and Lessons Learned from an Online Approach in the Philippines

Cited by 4 publications

References 10 publications

Biosafety protection and workflow of clinical microbiology laboratory under COVID-19: A review

Biosafety protection and workflow of clinical microbiology laboratory under COVID-19: A review

Experiences During the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Survey of Biosafety Professionals

Effectiveness of international virtual training on biorisk management in the context of COVID-19

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