Look inside one of Queensland's biggest COVID testing facilities
9News has been granted an inside look into one of Queensland's biggest COVID-19 testing and tracing facilities.
While the Bowen Hills Sullivan Nicolaides building may seem like a simple office building outside, the real work inside allows thousands of tests to be processed each day.
Sullivan Nicolaides CEO Michael Harrison has also revealed how quickly the facility had to speed up its processes last year – and how it's still speeding along.
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9News has been granted an inside look into one of Queensland's biggest COVID testing and tracing facilities that's operated twenty-four hours a day. Nine
Sullivan Nicolaides CEO Michael Harrison has also revealed how quickly the facility had to speed up its processes last year – and how its still speeding along. Nine
"I describe it as a sprint that turned into a marathon … we've maxed out," Mr Harrison said.
Over 13,000 tests a day are brought into the 72 staff facility, with a revolving door of couriers dropping off tests from all over the region.
The testing process sees liquid extracted by hand from each delivered swab.
If the virus is present in the liquid, it's then chemically separated, combined with agents, and then analysed by heating it and cooling it repeatedly.
The process alone can take up to 12 hours and delivers a simple dot chart for staff to identify cases – red being positive and green being negative. Nine
The process alone can take up to 12 hours and delivers a simple dot chart for staff to identify cases – red being positive and green being negative.
9News has been told a 24-hour turnaround from test to result is considered a "badge of honour".
"That's an extraordinary achievement - and I'm still amazed that we manage to do that," Mr Harrison said.
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