Public Health Wales uses Seegene assay to distinguish Omicron and Delta

A new technique is being used by Public Health Wales to track Corona virus while distinguishing Omicron variant from the Delta one, using Seegene’s Allplex SARS-CoV-2/Flu A/Flu B/RSV Assay and Allplex SARS-CoV-2 Variant Assay.

As such, Seegene’s Allplex SARS-CoV-2 Master Assay is a new PCR test that screens for COVID-SARS-2 while simultaneously discriminating Omicron from Delta strains in a single tube.

Seegene’s Variant assays are being implemented in regional laboratories to report positive results within 24 hours. The Wales Specialist Virology Centre in Cardiff has also validated the Seegene Allplex SARS-CoV-2 Master Assay, which the company says is the only CE marked assay for rapid detection and discrimination of Omicron or Delta strains.

On her side, Dr. Catherine Moore, consultant clinical scientist at the Wales Specialist Virology Centre, recently shared her experiences in using Seegene’s winter assay.

“We started using the assay just before the winter in 2020. The NHS was under so much pressure at the time that we wanted a mechanism to help us recognize not only COVID but other infections that might also be contributing to hospitalizations in the background of the pandemic. The assay is very simple to use, allowing us to screen up to 94 samples plus controls at any time,” she noted.

In parallel, public health authorities and healthcare providers need rapid insight to understand the appearance and transmission of the pandemic variants within the population to take action within communities to limit their spread.

Therefore, Public Health Wales has adopted the latest Allplex variant assay tests in response to the evolving pandemic and public health needs, in addition to the winter assay.

The institution manages a network of microbiology laboratories across Wales. At the same time, there are ten central laboratories and then a network of ‘hot labs’ that also use rapid testing platforms. The web uses Seegene’s Allplex SARS-CoV-2 Variant assays to rapidly detect S gene mutations and identify Omicron much earlier than sequencing alone.

It is worth mentioning that the fast detection of Omicron and Delta variants maintains the tracking of COVID-19 outbreaks and the analysis of variants in hospitals.