It is important to ensure environmental swabs and water samples are chilled and transported promptly to the laboratory to ensure sample integrity and provide accurate results reflective at the time of sampling.
Please follow these guidelines when transporting your samples to the microbiology laboratory:
- Samples must be kept cool, but not frozen.
- Samples must reach the laboratory between 0°C and 10°C, so please ensure adequate packing in chilly bin for transit to the laboratory.
- Samples should be transported by courier without delay after sampling:
- For water samples, the laboratory must start testing within 24 hours of sample collection.
- For environmental swabs, the laboratory must start testing within 48 hours of sample collection.
Samples received outside the time limit or temperature limits cannot be accepted for testing.