Despite a steady increase in COVID-19 testing in Texas and across the country, health officials say there has not been a backlog in administering or processing results this month.
December’s third surge of the virus has seen more people getting tested, but it has been the deadliest month of the pandemic in the United States. Large holiday gatherings, which were strongly cautioned against by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and local health departments, have also contributed to an increase in need for testing.
“We are seeing increases in testing the week before each holiday,” Dr. Sherri Onyiego, interim local health authority for Harris County Health. “We’ve also been putting out a lot of messaging to promote testing and we’re seeing that translate into more traffic at our sites.”
More than 15.3 million COVID-19 tests have been administered as of Dec. 27 in the Lone Star State, according to Texas Health and Human Services data. The number represents a 23 percent increase in the tests since Nov. 30 and a 63 percent increase since Nov. 3.
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In Harris County, more than 2.5 million COVID tests have been administered as of Sunday. The county also saw an increase in testing around the start of the holiday season, with a 21 percent increase between Nov. 4 and Dec. 1.
Increased testing capacities at local public health sites, as well as partnerships with more laboratories, have made it possible for the growing need to be met. Private labs that have been doing the bulk of the nation’s COVID-19 test processing, have also taken steps to prevent wait times for results. The national backlog of tests in laboratories in July had many people waiting up to two weeks for their results.
“The situation is different now than it was early on in our response to the pandemic,” said Onyiego. “We’ve gotten a number of local and federal partners since then. Our processes have improved and become more efficient. Because of that, result times have decreased.”
Now, results from tests administered at Harris County sites come back within 48 hours in most cases, but can take three to five days, Onyiego said.
Houston Health Department-affiliated testing sites average results to clients in two to four days, said Scott Packard, chief communications and public affairs officer for the agency.
Quick turnaround is important to prevention, said Onyiego, because results change people’s behaviors.
“Knowing your results puts people out of a situation where they could be spreading the virus to other individuals unknowingly,” she said. “When people know what their status is, we can get people into isolation and quarantine faster.”
The 11 Harris County-affiliated testing sites have a capacity of 3,000 tests a day. During the summer, Harris County Health Department’s FEMA-affiliated sites were capped at 2,300 tests a day.
Testing capacities at Houston Health Department sites have also increased, Packard said, and more people were tested in November and December than any other month of the pandemic.
Quest Diagnostics, a firm with laboratories around the world, reports it has processed about 27 million molecular COVID-19 tests as of Dec. 21.
“Despite a surge in COVID-19 cases and testing demand in recent weeks, our average turnaround time for molecular diagnostic testing continues to be two to three days,” a statement from the company says.
Two types of coronavirus diagnostic tests are molecular, which show that the virus is present, and antigen that show proteins left from COVID-19, according to the CDC.
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For priority patients, including hospitalized, long-term care and presurgical patients, the processing time is two days, according to Quest.
“We attribute the stability in our turnaround times to our continuing efforts to expand testing capacity and at the same time modulate demand,” the statement says.
LabCorp, a global life science company, says it has processed 28.7 million molecular tests as of Dec. 21. It’s daily capacity is now 270,000 tests, up from the 130,000 it was able to process a day in July. It takes an average of one to two days for Labcorp to deliver the results, according to the company.
To meet the increased need, Labcorp officials said it focused on expanding testing capacity to reduce turn-around time.
Labcorp was also granted emergency authorization for a home testing kit that is available without a prescription and will soon be available at retail stores.
Testing remains an essential tool for slowing the spread of the virus, said Onyiego, because 40 percent to 50 percent of the infected population is asymptomatic.
Testing in asymptomatic people is not always effective, though, doctors warn. That’s why even with testing, measures like wearing a mask and distancing are still important, Onyiego said.
For those who want to get tested after a Christmas or New Year’s gathering, Onyiedo said it’s best to wait around five days because that’s how long it can take the virus to incubate.
With the rollout of the new COVID-19 vaccines, Onyiego said her department is reminding the public to stay vigilant and keep utilizing other tools to stay safe, such as testing.
“We’re still seeing an increased positivity rate and hospitalizations,” she said. “The vaccine is not the full answer. We must continue with preventative measures we’ve had in place since the beginning.”
hannah.dellinger@chron.com
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