On 14 May 2020, this COVID-19 ECHO session was convened to assist the African laboratory community in designing and implementing an effective COVID-19 quality assured testing program. Mr Patrick Mateta, Vice President, Global Health Partnerships, at Clinical and Laboratory Standards Institute (CLSI) presented about how to plan and prepare for COVID-19 testing, the selection and verification/validation process for new testing methods, the testing technologies that are on the market, operator training and competence, safety practices to protect the laboratory staff and the reference documents available at CLSI. The presentation highlighted best practices in implementing a structured COVID-19 testing program, including the pre-examination, examination, and post examination phases of testing. Please follow the links posted here to view the recorded video session on ASLM’s YouTube channel and download the presentation slides and Q&A from the session.