A new analysis centre, set up in a tent, installed next to the main entrance of the Algarve Stadium, will start, this weekend, to collect samples from people suspected of infected with the new coronavirus.
This new equipment was announced by Ana Cristina Guerreiro, Regional Health Delegate, at press conference held this Friday, March 20, in Faro.
The initiative comes within the scope of a partnership between the Regional Health Administration (ARS) and the Algarve Biomedical Center (ABC), the latter a consortium that brings together the University of Algarve and the Hospital and University Center of the Algarve.
Nuno Marques, president of ABC, explained to Sul Informação that, despite the fact that «there is no date or time set yet», it is already known that this harvest center will «go into operation this weekend».
And how will everything work? Suspected cases “will arrive guided either by the Medical Support Line or by the SNS24 Line”.
“People will harvest their crops and go home. You will know the results later. In other words: this screening center will only attend to less serious cases, those who do not need to go to the hospital», he framed.
The tests will continue to be carried out at the Dr. Laura Ayres Regional Public Health Laboratory, also located near the Algarve Stadium.
Nuno Marques insisted that access to this harvest center “will not be free”. That is: whoever has symptoms of Covid-19 cannot come and ask to be tested. It must always be referred either through the SNS24 or the Medical Support Line.
Still, in the future, this open access could be a reality. «It is something that we do not know yet and that will always depend on the Regional Health Administration of the Algarve».
In terms of the number of harvests, “there will be no limitation”, nor estimates of how many are expected to be harvested per day at this centre. “The numbers are so dynamic and variable,” he illustrated.
For now, the tent “will not start working day and night”. «It is not necessary for the moment, but we have the ability to, at one moment or another, be always open, 24 hours a day».
To this end, the help of ABC, in this partnership with ARS, was essential.
«We managed to contact people and, fortunately, here in the Algarve, healthcare professionals are always available. All we had to do was send an alert and, immediately, there were people who offered to work», concluded Nuno Marques.
According to Ana Cristina Guerreiro, Regional Health Delegate, "other partners" may, in the future, join this initiative, "namely private laboratories that have already offered themselves".
This analysis system is already being implemented in Porto, Gaia and Lisbon.
Photos: Elisabete Rodrigues | Sul Informação
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