March 13, 2020 – COM-PAC ANNOUNCES NEW SHIPPING CONTAINERS SPECIFICALLY DESIGNED FOR CORONA VIRUS (COVID-19)

Com-Pac International has manufactured Laboratory specimen handling, storage and shipping products for over 30 years. Due to the recent Coronavirus outbreaks in Wuhan, China, Com-Pac has added two new specimen handling products designed specifically around the recently provided guidance from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) relating to packaging and shipping this virus. The new part numbers are:

INF-6200 Refrigerated or Frozen COVID-19 Specimen Shipping Kit with 1/2 Liter Vessel
INF-6300 Refrigerated or Frozen COVID-19 Specimen Shipping Kit with 1 Liter Vessel

We have attached several documents from the CDC, LabCorp and Quest Diagnostics which provide specimen shipping guidance with the appropriate sections highlighted. Please note the following:

Per CDC Guidance, Coronavirus, or suspected Coronavirus specimens, must be shipped as “Biological Substance, Category B,” and is assigned UN 3373. Shipment of Category B
substances must be packaged in accordance with Department of Transportation Hazardous Materials Regulations 49 CFR, Parts171-180.

For specimens being shipped directly to the CDC: o o o “Store at 2 – 8 C and shipovernight to CDC on ice pack” or, “if a specimen is frozen at -70 C ship
overnight to CDC on dry ice.”

For the LabCorp 2019 Novel Coronavirus (COVID-19(,NAA [139900] test kit: o o “Samples/specimens should be shipped frozen due to limited stability at 2 – 8 C.”

For the Quest Diagnostics SARS-COV-2 RNA, Qualatative Real-Time RT-PCR test kit: “If a sample is being shipped directly to the performing laboratory by an overnight courier, then o transport it frozen on dry ice….-70 C is acceptable.”

As specified above, the packaging requirements for shipment of Category B substances is regulated by the D.O.T. in the U.S. and the International Air Transport Association (IATA) internationally. You and your employer can be subject to fines and penalties if the packaging regulations are not followed.

All of Com-Pac’s shippers designated for use with Category B specimens have been tested and certified to comply with the UN 6.2 Dangerous Goods Regulations, 49 CFR D.O.T. regulations for air
and ground shipments and IATA Packaging Instructions 650 for international shipment. Each of our shippers comes complete with all required absorbents, labels and labeling instructions, and shipping declarations.

It should be noted that if you are shipping specimens on dry ice, in addition to the labels required for the package containing the specimen, you must affix the dry ice label to the outside of the cooler

CLICK HERE FOR PRODUCT INFORMATION AND SHIPPING INFORMATION.

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