“This change in Nevada’s status will allow the State of Nevada, not the FDA, to determine whether products associated with testing are safe and effective for testing. This means that when labs in Nevada do validation studies on products to determine whether they are effective prior to launching testing, they can submit their findings to the state, not the FDA, for approval. This is a much faster process. By the end of next week, we should have data on novel products for testing that should increase testing capacity considerably," said Dr. Mark Pandori, director of the NSPHL.
Federal regulators will allow Nevada to develop and conduct its own testing for the coronavirus disease COVID-19, according to state officials. "This means that when labs in Nevada do validation studies on products to determine whether they are effective prior to launching testing, they can submit their findings to the state, not the FDA, for approval," Dr. Mark Pandori, director of the Nevada State Public Health Laboratory, said in a statement.
KOLO Channel 8 News is celebrating Women's History Month by spotlighting women making a difference in our community. Dr. Catherine McCarthy is a doctor and professor at UNR Med.
Nearly two weeks ago, just as the state began to confirm its first cases, The Nevada Independent sat down with the lab’s director, Dr. Mark Pandori, to discuss what the testing process looked like. Today, the Independent again spoke with Pandori to find out the newest developments including how the state has adapted its testing process, and how the disease’s rapid spread could put pressure on the state’s limited testing infrastructure.
Dr. Mark Pandori, who runs the lab, said he received testing kits from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. About 5,000 testing kits are left, but he said that his lab, as well as many others across the country, are running into shortages of the materials needed to run the results.
"We will be doing and are prepared to do many, many more tests," said Mark Pandori, director of the lab and an associate professor in the University of Nevada, Reno Schoo of Medicine's Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine.
Why are rural clinics around the state continuing to close? And what can be done to stop it? John Packham, associate dean for the Office of Statewide Initiatives at UNR Med joined KNPR's State of Nevada to talk about the struggle to bring health care to rural Nevada.
According to Dr. Mark Pandori, director of the Nevada State Public Health Laboratory at the University of Nevada, Reno, test kits are being processed at the rate of about 100 a day.
Public health experts including Christina Madison, professor, Roseman University; Mark Pandori, director, Nevada State Public Health Laboratory and Joan Hall, president, Nevada Rural Hospital Partners, say that despite this milestone, the risk to any individual remains low, particularly if preventive measures are employed.
The Nevada Independent sat down with the lab’s director, Dr. Mark Pandori, to discuss developments related to the novel coronavirus in the state and to clear up some questions about the testing process.
In order to ensure the health and safety of our community, we are awaiting guidance from the Washoe County Health Department for testing protocols for COVID-19. Updates on future Student Outreach Clinics dates and times will be announced and posted to med.unr.edu/soc/clinics. We apologize for any inconvenience.
The lab in Reno currently has one of the kits, which consists of chemicals and reagents necessary to perform the test. One kit, according to Mark Pandori, the lab's director, has enough materials to perform at least 300 tests. It is one of 12 state-run labs across the country to be authorized by the CDC to perform the test. Pandori said he is currently working to get more kits from the CDC.
Dr. Mark Pandori, director of Nevada’s public health laboratory, told The Epoch Times earlier in the week that he expected the number of people being tested in the state to increase. The case definition from the CDC could continue to change, he said—the CDC later in the week issued guidance allowing states to test anyone, subject to a doctor’s order—and the expectation that surveillance testing, or testing a wider variety of specimens, would become routine.
Physician suicide is more than a matter of standardized mortality ratios; rather, it is a tragedy both personally and professionally. Any discussion of physician suicide deaths needs to recognize the far-reaching influence that even a single suicide has on the physician’s community.
Nevada Gov. Steve Sisolak held a briefing and press conference in hopes of reassuring residents that the state is prepared for its response to COVID-19, the 2019 novel coronavirus. Also speaking at the briefing was Dr. Mark Pandori, director of the Nevada State Public Health Lab.
Health care providers are gearing up to deal with an outbreak. Three to four hours is how long those testing will have to wait to get their results. “People don’t have to come here to get tested. When you're seeing your clinician because you're feeling unwell or if you’re in an emergency room, if it comes to that, the clinician there will take the specimen and the specimen they take will be a swab, the good news that swab can be tested for a wide range of respiratory agents,” Dr. Mark Pandori, Nevada State Public Health Lab.
We’re hearing a lot about coronavirus testing, but have tests been given in the Silver State to those exhibiting symptoms? KOH’s Daniela Sonnino spoke with the Nevada State Public Health Lab, who’s housing the state’s test kits to find out.
Dr. Aaron Dieringer, assistant professor, Family Medicine talks to Denise Wong about the no-cost medical services available for uninsured patients at the UNR Med Student Outreach Clinics.
“Our capacity to test right now is in the order of several hundred specimens, with the ability to obtain more chemicals to perform more testing from CDC in the next couple of weeks,” said Mark Pandori, director of the Nevada State Public Health Lab. “We have trained several staff members in the public health laboratory to run this test so that we can minimize what is called the turnaround time,” he said.
"We need to make certain that our students are safe when they travel abroad and the best way to do that is by disinfecting so they can take the appropriate practices for decontaminating surfaces, wearing masks, etc.," Dr. Steven Zell, UNR School of Medicine said.
Nevada now has the capability to test for the virus, says State Lab Director Mark Pandori. "As of Feb. 11th, the Nevada State Public Health Lab has had the capability to test for COVID-19," Pandori told reporters.
