Minera Pelambres' contribution, articulated by the Ministry of Science, Technology, Knowledge and Innovation, corresponds to protective elements for the professionals at the facility, such as masks, gloves, surgical gowns, goggles and facial protectors.

Last Friday, June 5, the University of La Serena received an important donation from Minera Los Pelambres, thanks to the coordination of the Ministry of Sciences, Technology, Knowledge and Innovation, to contribute to the work of the diagnostic laboratory for COVID-19 (Biology department).

This involves the delivery of personal protection items for health professionals who work in the laboratory, such as masks, gloves, surgical gowns, goggles, facial protectors, among other elements, which will allow the work of detecting COVID-19 is safe for officials and ensures the continuity of the detection process in the Coquimbo Region.

This public - private initiative also meant an important contribution to the work carried out by the FIGEMA-CEAZA laboratory of the Universidad Católica del Norte (Coquimbo Headquarters).

Regarding this delivery of supplies, the Vice Chancellor for Research and Postgraduate Studies, Dr. Eduardo Notte, indicated that "it is important to receive this donation, since this security material, which is scarce today, will allow us to carry out the exams testing with the safety of the personnel in charge requested by the Coquimbo Health Service. As a university we are very grateful for this help, it is always good that public and private institutions can work together on issues that help the community”.

For his part, the academic in charge of the laboratory, Dr. Cristian Ibáñez, stated that this donation “will mean important help in the safety of those who work to detect coronavirus cases in our laboratory. Once the use of the laboratory is authorized by the Coquimbo Health Service, we will be able to expedite the delivery of results of tests done in the region, both in their taking and analysis, and these inputs will be quite important in this work."

The Seremi of Science of the Central Macrozone, Dr. María José Escobar, assured that “this pandemic makes us face great challenges that require the articulation of different agents of the ecosystem, such as academia, the public and private systems. The coordination with the academy has allowed us to increase the diagnostic capacity of COVID-19, making scientific laboratories available for this purpose.”

The Ministerial Secretary added that “we are very grateful for the contribution that the ULS, the UCN with its FIGEMA laboratory and CEAZA have made. The private contribution is not left aside, which is evident with this contribution in personal protection elements for university laboratories, which is why we appreciate the willingness of Minera Los Pelambres to join this initiative. We hope that this type of articulation continues beyond the pandemic, contributing together to the sustainable development of our region.”