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The variant being discovered at the Shriners and MUHC, Tellier and Rauch said on Wednesday, was the result of a “bit of luck” and a “bit of detective work.”
The laboratory at the Shriners uses a different method to test for COVID-19 than most other labs in Quebec.
Though a children’s hospital, like many other health centres across the world, the Shriners pivoted some of its efforts when the pandemic struck to help in the fight against COVID-19.
The test kit the hospital uses takes a multi-target approach that looks for three genes at the same time in the virus, including the S-gene, where much of the mutation of the U.K. variant occurs.
“It’s a bit technical,” Tellier warned, but each positive test result comes with a graphic detailing the findings. In the case of the test used at the Shriners, the graphic usually shows three different coloured lines curving upward.
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