As the COVID-19 pandemic winds down, clinical and public health laboratories, along with industry partners, reflect on the successes and failures of the pandemic response. To capture the lessons learned and better prepare for the next pandemic, the Clinical Microbiology Open (CMO) assembled key stakeholders including directors of clinical laboratories, industry partners, and state and federal agencies such as the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Food and Drug Administration. Participants were asked to provide their perspectives on the initial pandemic response, supply chain constraints especially during surges, staffing challenges, test triage and communication strategies, clinical informatics needs, laboratory financial impacts of SARS-CoV-2 testing, and the emergency use authorization process. This manuscript summarizes the diagnostic laboratory and industry perspectives on these issues that were presented and discussed at CMO and proposes some steps that could be taken to improve future pandemic responses.
Keywords: COVID-19; pandemic.