Test issues cloud scope for virus outbreak in California

Los Angeles (AP) —Despite the growing backlog of 59,000 pending tests, California has stepped up coronavirus testing, and some will get results for up to 12 days Inability to do so has left incomplete images of the spread of the outbreak in this condition.

Tests have been deployed slowly in California, but are now accelerating. According to state statistics, more than 90,000 tests are being performed throughout the state, but nearly two-thirds of those results are still pending.

“The backlog is not necessarily improving in real time, but we do expect it,” Governor Gavin Newsom said on Thursday.

Newsom stated that this was a national matter. Lack of testing, masks, gloves, and other healthcare workers need to be worn to perform tests from people who may carry highly infectious viruses.

According to Newsam, as more people take blood tests, the state may be able to track test results more quickly. Tests that rely on the use of nasal swabs are the most prominent initial test method and are primarily responsible for delays.

The average wait time in Los Angeles County is 5-6 days, but depending on the results, it can take 10-12 days, says Barbara Ferrer, the county’s director of health. The county has a mix of private and public laboratories.

Increasing the number of tests without the ability to handle volumes in the lab is “ can’t really help us if there is a really long wait to wait to know if people are positive ” Ferrer said. “It is really important for us to know if they are positive, not only for their treatment, but also to isolate those people immediately, identify their close contacts, So we can quarantine our contacts. ”

Coronaviruses are transmitted mainly through coughing and sneezing. In most cases, mild or moderate symptoms such as fever and cough resolve in a few weeks. For some people, especially the elderly and those with existing health problems, they can cause more serious illnesses, including pneumonia and death.

According to Johns Hopkins University’s worldwide tally, California has more than 10,000 deaths and 238 deaths. State health officials may now be assembling all 75,000 hospital beds and 66,000 emergency beds in the state at hospitals and other locations in preparation for the peak case expected in mid-May .

Newsom emphasized for several weeks that the state needed to flatten the case curve so that the peak arrived as late as possible and had time to prepare for the condition. Getting accurate and up-to-date data from tests is the key to tracking that curve.

Newsom said that a new task force on testing will be put together and an announcement will be announced shortly to improve California’s testing capabilities significantly.

Currently, the state has priority tests for some of the most symptomatic and vulnerable patients, and healthcare professionals. It further cloudes the situation.

“The tests are mixed and kind,” said Dr. David Eisenman, director of the Center for Public Health and Disaster at the University of California, Los Angeles. “The number of cases identified is not an accurate number, because it is such a carefully selected group of people who tests.”

Dr. Sean Nasseri, a doctor at Beverly Hills, stated that trying to diagnose a patient would be frustrating and frustrating if only a few test kits were distributed per week. He was able to manage six tests a week ago on a drive-through circuit in an alley behind his office, and was still waiting for results from one of them on Thursday.

“We are all flying blind, and we hope that more tests will be available,” said Nasseri. “At this time, I have no idea how many people are really infected.”

The time to wait for a test and the time to get a result depends on the combination of counties, hospitals, and private test labs.

According to spokesperson Rain Hendricks, Marin County, which uses state laboratories for testing, can perform only 50 tests a day. It takes a couple of days for the state to produce results.

Spokeswoman Jennifer Lallock said Sonoma County, which reported no backlog, could test 100 kits a day in its lab and get results under 24. She said tests were lacking, but there was no backlog.

Orange County’s lab aims to complete 80-100 tests a day, in two days, but often takes 12-24 hours, says Orange County’s director of the Institute of Public Health. Says Megan Crumpler.

“We’re lucky that we’re not submerged,” Crumpler said.

According to Jose Alvaro Jr. of the County Public Health Service, Riverside County takes 1-3 days to process results in its own lab, but 5-7 days in private labs.

Waiting for the test results of a person who fears that they are infected with the coronavirus can be stressful, says Los Angeles after finding that a recently seen mother became infected after being exposed to the virus in church. Said Michel Bertinelli, who was screened at.

Bertinelli waited 2.5 hours in the queue of the car at the drive-through test site, and was then given a cotton swab with instructions to manage herself. She was told that the results would come out in three days. But as the days went by, she began to catch her cold from the “stress of not knowing”.

It took an entire week to get the result that she did not have COVID-19. However, his roommate tested positive, and Bertinelli returned to be tested again on Wednesday. Waiting has started anew and stress has worsened as her and the infected roommate share a bathroom.

“I’ve been in my room almost all day and every time I go to the toilet, it feels like a death penalty,” she said.

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Associated Press reporters Olga R. Rodriguez and Joselyn Gecker of San Francisco, Kathleen Ronein and Adam Beam of Sacramento, Amy Thaksin of Orange County, and John Antozac of Los Angeles contributed to the report.