A career that has traditionally been overshadowed by the other more visible healthcare professions is suddenly in the limelight in Bhutan.  Behind the daily ‘positive and negative’ results flashed across various media outlets are the hours of arduous labour of these professionals – laboratory technicians and scientists.

It’s almost midnight at the Royal Centre for Disease Control (RCDC) in Thimphu. Donning the white and red coveralls (protective suit), some 10-laboratory officials are busy working behind the transparent walls of a negatively pressurised room.

They are conducting the reverse transcription- polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) test, the only confirmatory test for Covid-19 on more than 2,000 samples that have come from Phuentsholing.

The centre has been receiving almost 4,000 samples daily since the beginning of the lockdown on August 11.

The centre’s head, Dr Sonam Wangchuk said that following the Covid-19 outbreak in Phuentsholing the centre was asked to screen the entire population in the border town to find out the extent of the outbreak.

https://kuenselonline.com/a-centre-at-the-centre-of-the-pandemic/