State Institute of Sanitation eliminates COVID-19 test backlog, although supply is still limited

The Wisconsin State Institute of Health has partnered with private laboratories in the state to increase the testing capacity of the new coronavirus by a factor of 30 and eliminate the test kit backlog.

Nevertheless, due to a significant shortage of test supplies, testing is a priority for healthcare professionals, the critically ill, and those at high risk of COVID-19 complications.

According to Dr. Alana Starkel, Assistant Director of the Communicable Diseases Department, the National Institutes of Health has changed testing methods six times last month as supplies used to handle suspected cases of COVID-19 have been exhausted. I needed to.

“That’s why we’re working very hard to maintain 400 tests per day, even if other labs aren’t very successful,” Sterkel said.

She said she still uses the Center for Disease Control and Prevention’s recommended test process for extracting viral genetic material, but said that test components containing chemicals known as reagents are lacking. Said. She stated that changing the testing methodology would provide access to supply chains that were not overwhelmed during the ongoing pandemic.

“We don’t really know if we will actually get something, often or when it will come, until it appears,” said Starkel about supplies. “But we ordered all sorts of things, some were ordered for 6 weeks and haven’t yet arrived.”

Sterkel collaborates with clinical labs Wisconsin Clinical Research Network, Was able to eliminate the test backlog.

“And thanks to the additional testing, mainly by clinical laboratories, we have been able to increase the state’s capacity by a factor of 30 in the past month, which is a great welcome from these It was a need, “Sterkel said. .

Some wrote on WPR WHYsconsin I wondered how long it would take to get results from the COVID-19 test. Some, such as Shotel Phillips, have talked about a delay stating that their husband has not yet received the results of the COVID-19 test in Baldwin on March 27.

To conserve available testing supplies, the Wisconsin Health Service Prioritize the people being tested And where those tests are processed. Patients requiring hospitalization for symptoms of COVID-19, patients living in long-term care facilities with symptoms of COVID-19, and healthcare professionals are considered top priorities, and testing is at the State Institutes of Health or the Milwaukee Health Department Institute Will be sent to

If a physician recommends a test for someone who does not meet the standards outlined by the state, the test will be sent to a hospital private laboratory for processing. Patients suspected of having COVID-19 without hospitalization or meeting state standards have not been tested.

Although labs at some hospitals in large cities have begun processing COVID-19 test kits in-house, many samples collected from small, rural facilities in the state are being processed for delivery. It takes time.

Aspirus, which owns a network of hospitals in north central Wisconsin, has developed its own in-house tests to speed up the process. Daniel Lockwood, lab manager, stated that he was working to buy a commercial test kit to get results faster, bypassing the Public Health Laboratory, but they simply got I just can’t.

“I’ve been trying to get these for more than a month,” says Lockwood. “I have not received a kit ordered from a commercial vendor yet.”

Following the CDC’s instructions and collecting test supplies from member hospitals, Aspirus has now processed the test and obtained results within 3-4 hours. Lockwood said it can handle 46 to 92 tests a day.

Mauri Bruggeman, another lab manager at Asipirus, said hospital and lab staff were also dissatisfied with the need to prioritize testing due to lack of supplies.

“We understand that and sympathize with patients who want those results. I have seen many clinical trials where providers state their needs and say that it is difficult not only in patients but also in the lab. Some teams may be used to the quick results of the test, “said Brugeman.