[The COVID-19 breaker : PCR to the rescue !]

Chronicle of a crisis management at the Clinical Microbiology Laboratory of CHU Liège The SARS-CoV-2 outbreak in December 2019 in China and its expansion across the world and Europe have requested the participation of clinical laboratories as major players in the diagnosis of COVID-19, to perform PCR tests mainly on nasopharyngeal swabs. In Belgium, the first confirmed COVID-19 patient was diagnosed in early February, the first of many, especially travelers returning from winter sports. In order to meet the ever-increasing demands for testing, the Clinical Microbiology Laboratory of the CHU of Liege had to adapt to this situation: firstly, by developing manual PCR tests and then automated solutions, permitting to increase the number of analyzes by ensuring a short turnaround time of results. Then, a system for the communication of results on a large scale has been set up, and finally solutions to deal with the lack of sampling devices have been found. This first wave of the pandemic has also highlighted an unprecedented solidarity within the institution. In this article, we recount the chronology of the management of this unprecedented health crisis within the Clinical Microbiology Laboratory of the CHU of Liege.