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In a phased response, EMR countries utilized the National Influenza Centers to rapidly establish and scale molecular testing for SARS\u2010CoV\u20102, the causative agent of COVID\u201019. The expansion of capacity included strong collaborations between public health bodies and private and academic sectors to decentralize and expand testing to the subnational level. To ensure that the quality of testing was not impacted by rapid expansion, national and subnational laboratories were enrolled in external quality assurance programs for the duration of the response. Implementation of genomic surveillance was prioritized for variant tracking, leading to the establishment of regional sequencing reference laboratories and the distribution of MinION sequencing platforms to complex emergency countries who previously had limited experience with pathogen sequencing. Challenges included a lack of technical expertise, including in implementing novel diagnostic assays and sequencing, a lack of bioinformatics expertise in the region, and significant logistical and procurement challenges. The collaborative approach, coordinated through the WHO Eastern Mediterranean Regional Office, enabled all 22 countries to achieve SARS\u2010CoV\u20102 diagnostic capabilities, highlighting the pivotal role of laboratories in global health security.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.1111\/irv.13225","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2024,2,7]],"date-time":"2024-02-07T07:14:01Z","timestamp":1707290041000},"update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1002\/crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":4,"title":["A phased strengthening of laboratory capacity in the Eastern Mediterranean Region during the COVID\u201019 pandemic"],"prefix":"10.1111","volume":"18","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-3802-8290","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Luke W.","family":"Meredith","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Infectious Hazard Management, Department of Health Emergency World Health Organization, Eastern Mediterranean Regional Office  Cairo Egypt"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Mustafa","family":"Aboualy","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Infectious Hazard Management, Department of Health Emergency World Health Organization, Eastern Mediterranean Regional Office  Cairo Egypt"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Rachel","family":"Ochola","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Infectious Hazard Management, Department of Health Emergency World Health Organization, Eastern Mediterranean Regional Office  Cairo Egypt"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Mehmet","family":"Ozel","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Infectious Hazard Management, Department of Health Emergency World Health Organization, Eastern Mediterranean Regional Office  Cairo Egypt"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Abdinasir","family":"Abubakar","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Infectious Hazard Management, Department of Health Emergency World Health Organization, Eastern Mediterranean Regional Office  Cairo Egypt"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Amal","family":"Barakat","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Infectious Hazard Management, Department of Health Emergency World Health Organization, Eastern Mediterranean Regional Office  Cairo Egypt"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]}],"member":"311","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2024,2,5]]},"reference":[{"key":"e_1_2_10_2_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1136\/bmjgh\u20102022\u2010010968"},{"key":"e_1_2_10_3_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1163\/15723747\u201001602002"},{"key":"e_1_2_10_4_1","unstructured":"World Health Organization Eastern Mediterranean Regional Office Outbreak Dashboard.https:\/\/www.emro.who.int\/pandemic-epidemic-diseases\/outbreaks\/index.html"},{"key":"e_1_2_10_5_1","unstructured":"World Health Organization COVID\u201019 Public Health Emergency of International Concern (PHEIC). 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