The coronavirus pandemic has affected all areas of people’s lives, the operation of health care facilities, and economic activities around the world. Analyzing the recommendations of relevant international organizations and the global experience of anti-epidemic measures implemented in biobanks, the Association of Cryobanks recommends:

 

 

• To strengthen the sanitation of premises;
• To treat all containers with biomaterials arriving at the biobank with disinfectants to which SARS-CoV-2 is sensitive, following the required exposure;
• To organize the shift work of the laboratory staff with breaks between shifts for more frequent sanitation;
• To organize the remote work of office employees, who are not involved in the processing and testing of biomaterials;
• To provide information support to clients online or by telephone;
• To organize remote contracting;
• Educational activities and lectures for expectant parents to hold online.

 

In Ukraine, the Institute of Cell Therapy, a co-founder and full member of the Association of Cryobanks, implements all international recommendations on the operation of the biobank of umbilical cord blood, other human cells and tissues in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic.