Many regulators are already using accreditation effectively to support their regulatory and policy objectives in areas of national interest including health.

International Laboratories Accreditation Cooperation (ILAC) published a new brochure “Specifying Accreditation as part of COVID-19 Testing”, for those not previously involved in this process, the lab shall be accredited in accordance with medical labs accreditation standard requirements of ISO 15189, and the testing lab’s scope of accreditation shall include SARS-CoV-2-testing.

Laboratories involved in this testing may be using commercially produced test kits or fully validated in-house test procedures. In some economies, there may be government/regulatory requirements in relation to the testing protocols and/or the need for accreditation.