Quebec nurse had to clean up after husband's death in Montreal hospital
On a night she should have been mourning, a nurse from Quebec's Laurentians region says she was forced to clean up her husband after he died at a hospital in Montreal.
U.K. researchers have developed a COVID-19 testing lab that fits into a backpack, which they say could offer low income nations and remote communities a more affordable and accessible method for detecting the virus.
In a new study, published Wednesday in peer-reviewed scientific journal PLOS ONE, scientists from Queen Mary University of London show that their lab-in-a-backpack approach is as effective as commercially available COVID-19 tests at detecting positive infections.
While global efforts to bring COVID-19 vaccines to poorer countries are currently underway, experts say it could take up to three years for these regions to achieve full vaccination.
Because of this vaccine inequity, researchers note that these countries will have to continue to heavily rely on COVID-19 testing and subsequent contact tracing for some time.
However, they say many regions lack the "practical and financial ability to conduct an adequate amount of reliable testing."
To improve COVID-19 testing options, researchers created the relatively inexpensive lab-in-a-backpack system for a total of US$51 (approximately CA$64) using low-cost hardware, including a centrifuge made from recycled computer hard drives called CentriDrive, to process samples. The testing system also uses non-invasive saliva sampling instead of throat or nasal swabs.
According to the study, the backpack testing lab can process six samples in 90 minutes using a technique known as reverse transcription loop-mediated isothermal amplification, or RT-LAMP, which researchers say has a "similar sensitivity" to PCR testing.
Using saliva samples combined with known amounts of SARS-CoV-2 ribonucleic acid (RNA), the study found the lab-in-a-backpack system to be "effective and sensitive" at detecting COVID-19.
According to the study, the backpack lab was able to detect as few as four viral RNA copies per microliter of saliva, which researchers noted is a lower level than what is actually found in patients infected with the virus.
Researchers say the standalone testing system is portable and can be powered by a rechargeable battery or hooked up to a car battery. It also comes with "straightforward instructions that can be followed with minimal training," according to researchers.
Because of this, the study's authors say the new testing system could expand the ability of certain countries and populations to offer "fast, reliable, non-invasive detection" of COVID-19 as the pandemic continues.
"It will not only provide a viable and inexpensive test kit for regions such as Africa, where innovative solutions are particularly important during the COVID-19 pandemic, it can also be used in resource-rich areas, for example, in high school classrooms to demonstrate how to test for COVID-19," said the study's lead author Emily Lin in a press release.
In addition, Queen Mary University of London professor Stoyan Smoukov says the device has the potential to test for other diseases and conditions.
"The COVID-19 test is a timely application, but we also believe with this CentriDrive kit people could perform a large array of routine blood and urine tests, providing a centrifuge away from central hospital facilities," Smoukov said in the release.
While the system is promising, the study's authors say more work is needed before the lab-in-a-backpack system can be implemented in real-world environments
Researchers say their next steps will be to further simplify the kit instructions so more people can understand the system, regardless of experience or language, as well as validate the lab with real patient samples.
On a night she should have been mourning, a nurse from Quebec's Laurentians region says she was forced to clean up her husband after he died at a hospital in Montreal.
A North Bay, Ont., lawyer who abandoned 15 clients – many of them child protection cases – has lost his licence to practise law.
Members of the Bank of Canada's governing council were split on how long the central bank should wait before it starts cutting interest rates when they met earlier this month.
Brad Marchand scored twice, including the winner in the third period, and added an assist as the Boston Bruins downed the Toronto Maple Leafs 4-2 to take a 2-1 lead in their first-round playoff series Wednesday
Cuba's foreign affairs minister has apologized to a Montreal-area family after they were sent the wrong body following the death of a loved one.
Mounties in Nanaimo, B.C., say two late-night revellers are lucky their allegedly drunken antics weren't reported to police after security cameras captured the men trying to steal a heavy sign from a downtown business.
The federal government's proposed change to capital gains taxation is expected to increase taxes on investments and mainly affect wealthy Canadians and businesses. Here's what you need to know about the move.
Canada's Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland was among the 1,700 delegates attending the two-day First Nations Major Projects Coalition (FNMPC) conference that concluded Tuesday in Toronto.
The daughter of a New Brunswick man recently exonerated from murder, is remembering her father as somebody who, despite a wrongful conviction, never became bitter or angry.
A property tax bill is perplexing a small townhouse community in Fergus, Ont.
When identical twin sisters Kim and Michelle Krezonoski were invited to compete against some of the world’s most elite female runners at last week’s Boston Marathon, they were in disbelief.
The giant stone statues guarding the Lions Gate Bridge have been dressed in custom Vancouver Canucks jerseys as the NHL playoffs get underway.
A local Oilers fan is hoping to see his team cut through the postseason, so he can cut his hair.
A family from Laval, Que. is looking for answers... and their father's body. He died on vacation in Cuba and authorities sent someone else's body back to Canada.
A former educational assistant is calling attention to the rising violence in Alberta's classrooms.
The federal government says its plan to increase taxes on capital gains is aimed at wealthy Canadians to achieve “tax fairness.”
At 6'8" and 350 pounds, there is nothing typical about UBC offensive lineman Giovanni Manu, who was born in Tonga and went to high school in Pitt Meadows.
Kevin the cat has been reunited with his family after enduring a harrowing three-day ordeal while lost at Toronto Pearson International Airport earlier this week.