Testing Lag

1,593 Views | 6 Replies | Last: 5 yr ago by bay fan
DuncanAg
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AG
In Houston there is a substantial lag from getting a PCR nasal swab test and receiving results. My family is on day 5 since our tests utilizing a private lab (I believe samples got sent to Quest) and I am hearing stories of 7 days+.

We are on lockdown as advised since we were exposed to a COVID positive person. Luckily, only symptoms experienced was my wife had a headache and I had some GI issues (our kids have had zero).

Makes me wonder if the labs were returning results within 24 hours would that change people's behavior who need a test on locking down? Said another way...how many people are getting tested from an exposure and just going on with their normal routine?
TexasAggie008
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AG
Yep .... friend in dallas had to wait like 6 days (finally got Monday)

Defiantly think the turnaround time is a substantial problem in getting covid+'s fully quarantined
David_Puddy
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AG
Shoot me a PM if any of you need tests for yourself or your company AND are covered by either BCBS PPO plan or Medicare. I am helping a buddy who ows a lab here in Houston and one in Dallas get tests out and BCBS is reimbursing him for the tests, so it's no out of pocket. I prefer to get them out in bulk quantities (i.e. to companies that need them). There is a 1.5-2 day turnaround on the results and they get emailed directly to you (so if a company wants to test, it doesn't have to filter through an HR or HSE person).
eidetic78
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AG
test TATs are still variable. Depends on the lab, their capacity, the demand, etc..

My lab (Tx med center) is getting ~70% of tests reported out in ~24 hours, ~92% of tests out in less than 48 hrs and >98% in under 4 days.

But there are some that have to be re-run due to either too low of a human signal (which can signal a poor sample collection, mishandled sample, etc...), or if only one of the two viral genes being tested for is found (could be false positive, or could be true positive but on the limit of detection of the assay)

Samples falling into those situations are re-run a second time to make sure before being reported out.

We've also seen our demand as well as positive rate shoot up this past week.

As an anecdote, we were averaging a 4-5% positive rate for April and May. Our positive rate is relatively low because we process about half congregate site blanket testing and half drive-up sites. Of the ~600 tests we've processed so far today (again about half and half from congregate sites and drive up), our positive percentage on the day is ~19%
Windy City Ag
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AG
My son had to go into the ER for the weekend and a COVID Test was part of the admission process. Children's Medical turned it 24 hours.
Not a Bot
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AG
The lab in our hospital has a 24 hour turnaround time. There's just a lot of variability with equipment and capacity.
bay fan
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S
My daughter is Dallas now on day 8. They told her maybe not until Friday so 10 days. She's not been sick and her friends who were exposed with her have been cleared to return to work. Her test is now obsolete.
bay fan
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S
Wow, that's a huge increase.
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