The COVID-19 pandemic demonstrates that health systems in many countries – developed and developing – were not prepared for such a crisis. Since 2005, several organisations have warned about the consequences of pandemics, issuing recommendations to prepare for critical health situations (WHO 2005, World Economic Forum 2006). However, in many countries few of these recommendations…
How can we prevent the spread of Covid-19 — especially in crowded places where people are queueing while they wait to buy chai, dhal curry or other food? This challenge moved health authorities in Sri Lanka to join forces with local business support organizations and international partners. In June and July, PTB’s partner organizations, the…
What are the proper procedures for face masks? It is essential to use face masks properly in order to achieve the greatest possible protection. Wash hands thoroughly, at least 20-30 seconds and with soap before putting on the face mask. When putting on the face mask, make sure that the nose and mouth areas including…
PTB’s droplet digital PCR has what it takes to become a reference method to monitor the quality of medical analytical laboratories. Scientists of the Berlin Institute of the Physikalisch-Technische Bundesanstalt (PTB) have adapted the innovative method of droplet digital PCR to detect SARS-CoV-2 and have applied it successfully within the scope of an international…
Emergency aid to COVID-19 testing facilities in the Palestinian territories A call for help from the Ministry of Health of the Palestinian National Authority reached PTB at the end of March: Laboratory analytics to test for coronavirus SARS-CoV-2 are lacking. In the project called “Supporting the national quality infrastructure” which has been implemented in the…
Braunschweig’s Fire Department will decide where to distribute them It is usually considered impolite to regift presents so soon after receiving them, but the Physikalisch-Technische Bundesanstalt (PTB) is making an exception in this case. PTB received several thousand masks from Chinese research colleagues in Wuhan and immediately brought 4,000 of them to Braunschweig’s Fire Department.…
Dear blog visitors, dear friends, dear project partners and, of course, dear experts worldwide, Things have become very quiet in the world, in Germany and at PTB due to the Corona Crisis. Those who can stay at home and work from there are doing so. The vast majority of our department is doing this too.…
In February 2020, a workshop with nearly forty participants took place in Mexico City which brought national supporters of both solar thermal and photovoltaic power plants as well as bank representatives together with Mexico’s quality infrastructure (QI) experts. The meeting was organized by PTB and was based on the project ‘Strengthening the Quality…
On 6 and 7 February, PTB and the Federal Ministry of Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) jointly welcomed representatives of the evaluation units of German development cooperation organizations in Braunschweig at the traditional annual meeting. Over 60 guests from governmental and non-governmental institutions participated in order to discuss the newest developments in evaluation work. Upon…
Myanmar had good reason to celebrate at the beginning of February – it was as if World Metrology Day had been preponed. On 4 February 2020, a representative of the National Accreditation Board for Testing and Calibration Laboratories India (NABL) officially handed over the certificate for a successful assessment of the mass laboratory of the National Institute…