During the COVID-19 pandemic, public health laboratories in EU/EEA countries came under severe strain as demand for testing and surveillance surged while capacity and resources were limited. Laboratories faced significant challenges in recruiting and retaining sufficiently trained staff, rapidly introducing new digital systems for genomic surveillance, and managing supply chain disruptions that caused shortages of essential equipment. At the same time, they were expected to support broader public health surveillance needs and provide assistance to other laboratories, stretching their operational limits.
To cope with these pressures, public health laboratories expanded capacity by hiring and training additional personnel, investing in new physical and digital infrastructure, and sourcing supplies through alternative procurement channels. Collaboration across sectors became an important coping mechanism, with laboratories drawing on support from the military, animal health laboratories, and the private sector to supplement testing and analytical capacity during peak periods.
The pandemic also accelerated major advances in laboratory science and surveillance. Public health laboratories rapidly scaled up genomic sequencing, strengthened variant tracking, and introduced innovative approaches such as wastewater surveillance. Responding to emerging scientific evidence required constant adaptation, and the availability of clear guidelines and standard operating procedures proved essential in supporting consistent practice, improving data quality, and spreading best practices across laboratory networks.
Despite these advances, laboratories experienced persistent difficulties with data sharing, coordination, and collaboration. Existing networks played a crucial role in mitigating these challenges, as regional collaborations within countries supported more effective surveillance, while EU-level and WHO-facilitated partnerships enhanced communication, capacity building, and alignment of approaches across borders.
The experience of COVID-19 offers valuable lessons for strengthening preparedness for future respiratory infectious disease threats. Key opportunities include improving the balance between speed, accuracy, and volume of testing, and clarifying which laboratory activities are most effective for informing decision-making at different stages of a public health emergency. Learning from these experiences can help laboratories deploy resources more strategically during future crises.
Improved preparedness will require maintaining sufficient laboratory capacity during non-crisis periods to ensure early threat detection, alongside clear plans for rapidly scaling operations during emergencies. Stronger coordination mechanisms between public health laboratories and cross-sectoral partners are essential, as is addressing barriers to timely data sharing through investments in robust and interoperable digital infrastructure.
Sustaining preparedness also depends on long-term resources and capacity, continued support for coordination and data exchange during emergencies, and evidence to guide appropriate levels of surveillance activities such as sequencing and PCR testing. Maintaining the scientific and operational gains achieved during the pandemic, including advances in genomic and wastewater surveillance and workforce skills, will be critical, as will clearer planning for scaling laboratory capacity up and down in response to fluctuating demand.
Participants from EU/EEA public health laboratories emphasized the importance of continued EU-level support to strengthen future preparedness. This includes sustained investment to address capacity gaps, consolidation of evidence on best laboratory practices during emergencies, targeted research to guide efficient surveillance strategies, coordinated actions to reduce supply chain vulnerabilities, and EU-wide preparedness exercises to improve communication and coordination. Clarifying the roles of EU-level actors and further strengthening laboratory networks were also seen as key to ensuring more agile and effective responses to future respiratory infectious disease threats.
