Andina

Peru: EsSalud Hospital in Cusco processes molecular tests in just 3 hours

13:31 | Cusco (Cusco region), Jun. 3.

EsSalud's Adolfo Guevara Velasco National Hospital in the Andean city of Cusco processes COVID-19 molecular tests and issues the results in just three hours, the institution reported on Wednesday.

The health center's molecular biology laboratory has 200 tests to detect the virus. The corresponding reagents are: Xpert Xpress SARS-CoV-2 from the Cepheid Laboratory (U.S.). It is a molecular diagnosis for the qualitative detection of SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19.

The stock has the approval of the United States' Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and relies on the sanitary registry of the Ministry of Health (Minsa).


Therefore, at times of pandemic, the Social Health Insurance System's (EsSalud) Cusco hospital is the first establishment on a national scale that relies on this technology. It must be noted the tests are administered and used according to medical protocol.

The first test was performed satisfactorily on an insured male citizen and the result was negative.

David Acurio, head of the Department of Support for Diagnosis and Treatment, and Cesar Taboada, Graduate Medical Technologist Supervisor at the Molecular Biology Laboratory, are managers for the implementation of molecular tests in the Cusco-based hospital.

EsSalud's step forward in the care protocol for COVID-19 patients is possible due to the conditions of the molecular biology lab, which is part of Adolfo Guevara Velasco National Hospital, where medical technologists are prepared to conduct molecular tests.

(END) PHS/MAO/MVB

Published: 6/3/2020