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4. Final thoughts and additional resources

4.1 Final thoughts

In the relatively brief time since it has started, the COVID-19 pandemic has brought with it numerous challenges for society to face. How poised is a state and national government to truly lend assistance to its citizens in the face of a crisis? How does the increasing divide between the "haves" and "have nots", and the associated economic structures that lend to them, reveal the fragility of our society? What more can be done to fund epidemiology research? How can we improve our healthcare system to be better equipped to handle communicable disease response and better funded to provide more social services to a broader base of people? And what lessons can be learned from the successes and failures of providing accurate, responsive laboratory testing during pandemics?

We've learned that the family of coronaviruses can be disruptive to humanity with past brushes with SARS and MERS, yet we arguably haven't done enough to research these and similar viruses to be more prepared. We were perhaps fortunate in some ways that SARS wasn't worse than it proved to be. However, responses by the World Health Organization (WHO), the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), and other organizations and agencies around the world during the SARS and MERS outbreaks laid the foundations for laboratory testing a novel coronavirus like SARS-CoV-2. R

4.2 Key guidance documents

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (24 March 2020). "Evaluating and Testing Persons for Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19)". Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-nCoV/hcp/clinical-criteria.html.

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (24 March 2020). "Interim Guidelines for Collecting, Handling, and Testing Clinical Specimens from Persons for Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19)". Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-nCoV/lab/guidelines-clinical-specimens.html.

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (31 March 2020). "Interim Laboratory Biosafety Guidelines for Handling and Processing Specimens Associated with Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19)". Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-nCoV/lab/lab-biosafety-guidelines.html.

Occupational Safety and Health Administration (March 2020). "Guidance on Preparing Workplaces for COVID-19" (PDF). OSHA 3990-03 2020. Occupational Safety and Health Administration. https://www.osha.gov/Publications/OSHA3990.pdf.

Pan American Health Organization (30 March 2020). "Laboratory Guidelines for the Detection and Diagnosis of COVID-19 Virus Infection" (PDF). Pan American Health Organization. https://www.paho.org/en/file/61863/download?token=4nO-2lxQ.

Public Health England (3 April 2020). "COVID-19: Guidance for sampling and for diagnostic laboratories". U.K Government. https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/wuhan-novel-coronavirus-guidance-for-clinical-diagnostic-laboratories.

Public Health Laboratory Network (1 April 2020). "PHLN guidance on laboratory testing for SARS-CoV-2 (the virus that causes COVID-19)". Department of Health, Australian Government. https://www.health.gov.au/resources/publications/phln-guidance-on-laboratory-testing-for-sars-cov-2-the-virus-that-causes-covid-19.

U.S. Food and Drug Administration (25 March 2020). "Enforcement Policy for Face Masks and Respirators During the Coronavirus Disease (COVID-19) Public Health Emergency". FDA-2020-D-1138-0013. U.S. Food and Drug Administration. https://www.fda.gov/regulatory-information/search-fda-guidance-documents/enforcement-policy-face-masks-and-respirators-during-coronavirus-disease-covid-19-public-health.

U.S. Food and Drug Administration (30 March 2020). "Enforcement Policy for Gowns, Other Apparel, and Gloves During the Coronavirus Disease (COVID-19) Public Health Emergency". FDA-2020-D-1138-0023. U.S. Food and Drug Administration. https://www.fda.gov/regulatory-information/search-fda-guidance-documents/enforcement-policy-gowns-other-apparel-and-gloves-during-coronavirus-disease-covid-19-public-health.

U.S. Food and Drug Administration (16 March 2020). "Policy for Diagnostic Tests for Coronavirus Disease-2019 during the Public Health Emergency". FDA-2020-D-0987-0012. U.S. Food and Drug Administration. https://www.fda.gov/regulatory-information/search-fda-guidance-documents/policy-diagnostic-tests-coronavirus-disease-2019-during-public-health-emergency.

World Health Organization, et al. (19 March 2020). "Laboratory biosafety guidance related to coronavirus disease (COVID-19): Interim guidance, 19 March 2020". WHO/WPE/GIH/2020.2. World Health Organization. https://apps.who.int/iris/handle/10665/331500.

World Health Organization, et al. (19 March 2020). "Laboratory testing for coronavirus disease (COVID-19) in suspected human cases: Interim guidance, 19 March 2020". WHO/COVID-19/laboratory/2020.5. World Health Organization. https://apps.who.int/iris/handle/10665/331501.

4.3 Web portals

4.3.1 U.S. agency portals

4.3.2 U.S. state and territory portals

U.S. territories

4.3.3 Other national and multinational portals

World Health Organization (WHO) and regionals

4.4 Key journal articles

Hadaya, J.; Schumm, M.; Livingston, E.H. (2020). "Testing Individuals for Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19)". JAMA. doi:10.1001/jama.2020.5388. PMID 32236503.

Iwen, P.C.; Stiles, K.L.; Pantella, M.A. (2020). "Safety considerations in the laboratory testing of specimens suspected or known to contain the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2)". American Journal of Clinical Pathology: aqaa047. doi:10.1093/ajcp/aqaa047. PMID 32190890.

Loeffelholz, M.J.; Tang, T.-W. (2020). "Laboratory diagnosis of emerging human coronavirus infections – The state of the art". Emerging Microbes & Infections 9 (1): 747–56. doi:10.1080/22221751.2020.1745095. PMID 32196430.

https://www.ecdc.europa.eu/sites/default/files/documents/Overview-rapid-test-situation-for-COVID-19-diagnosis-EU-EEA.pdf