[Exports_project_office] FW: [EXTERNAL] RE: COVID pcr testing and similar

Thu Feb 18 07:28:52 PST 2021

Hi people.

Please pay attention to the answers in green below provided by Guy - for our discussion today Thank you

Ivona

From: Dale-Smith, Guy <guy.dale-smith at noc.ac.uk>
Sent: Wednesday, February 17, 2021 3:23 AM
To: Cetinic, Ivona (GSFC-616.0)[UNIVERSITIES SPACE RESEARCH ASSOCIATION] <ivona.cetinic at nasa.gov>
Cc: Short, Jon <jos at noc.ac.uk>; David Siegel <davey at eri.ucsb.edu>; Craig M. Lee <craiglee at uw.edu>
Subject: [EXTERNAL] RE: COVID pcr testing and similar

Ivona,

Hope all is well in DC and you have  / are surviving the cold snap!

Please see responses to your questions below in green

Regards,

Guy

Guy Dale-Smith | Research Ship Manager, National Marine Facilities
National Oceanography Centre, Southampton, SO14 3ZH
+44 (0)2380 596157 | +44 (0)7701 371725 | guy.dale-smith at noc.ac.uk<mailto:leigh.storey at noc.ac.uk>
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From: Cetinic, Ivona (GSFC-616.0)[UNIVERSITIES SPACE RESEARCH ASSOCIATION] <ivona.cetinic at nasa.gov<mailto:ivona.cetinic at nasa.gov>>
Sent: 16 February 2021 20:06
To: Dale-Smith, Guy <guy.dale-smith at noc.ac.uk<mailto:guy.dale-smith at noc.ac.uk>>
Cc: Short, Jon <jos at noc.ac.uk<mailto:jos at noc.ac.uk>>; David Siegel <davey at eri.ucsb.edu<mailto:davey at eri.ucsb.edu>>; Craig M. Lee <craiglee at uw.edu<mailto:craiglee at uw.edu>>
Subject: COVID pcr testing and similar

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Hi Guy or Jon (who ever more appropriate),

Hope all is good over there, and that you are all looking forward to release of the lockdown.
1)      Question for you regarding PCR tests:
a.       What is the turnaround time for those tests - we are currently counting on couple of days, but I recall you (or someone) saying it is a 24 hour turnaround, as it is a private company. Can you verify that turnaround time for me as it would allow us to shorten the quarantine time for our group (from painful 17 to probably 14)?

We use Remote Medical International (RMI) to do our Covid-19 PCR testing.  They are a large US based medical services company who brought out the UK company we used for all our medical requirements mid-2020.  We can arrange the testing for you using RMI.  Their health care professionals would test at the hotel then the samples are couriered to a laboratory for analysis.  The service agreement is 24hrs turnaround from arrival at the lab (Nottingham) so we work on results being available midday the following day.
b.       In recent couple of months, several UNOLS cruises here in US were faced with the problem of false positives. As I am afraid of everything these days, I would like to put a mechanism in place that will insure that being taken care of. Hence - is there a possibility for me to open a conversation with the providers of the test, and see if it is possible- in case we have an asymptomatic positive case for our first or second testing during the quarantine - to repeat that test (probably two swabs) within 24 hours of the results of the previous one?

All achievable.  NOC currently mitigate for false positives by having self-sample PCR test kits and LFD test kits on board for just such a scenario.  We / you can ask RMI to provide these for you and / or arrange for them to return to test again within 24/48hrs depending on their other commitments. .
c.       In case if we have such situation - positive, followed by two negative tests - who would make a final decision if that person is truly negative and hence allowed to sail?

I believe that would and should be a joint decision between NASA, NOC and the Captain (as per our own SOPs) based on all known variables and factoring in the close proximity of the science site to medevac SAR and medical care ashore.

Thank you in advance for your answers.

Ivona

Ivona Cetinic, Ph.D. (she/her)
NASA Goddard Space Flight Center/USRA
Ocean Ecology Laboratory
Code 616
Greenbelt, MD 20771, USA
Phone: +1-301-286-1514

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