DENVER | Waiting 10 to 12 or, in some cases, 14 days for a lab to return results on a COVID-19 test is useless, says Colorado Gov. Jared Polis.
By that time the person could either be in the hospital or on the road to recovery. If they’re positive without symptoms, they could be spreading the virus for days before getting results back.
“It’s not helpful at all to have results that far out,” he said during a news conference Thursday. “We’re taking matters into our own hands.”
Instead of relying on national testing labs, Colorado is increasing and diversifying its own lab capacity. It’s a move that could have a significant impact on beating the virus back in Colorado.
Quicker testing can lead to more responsive tracing and helping people to know if they should quarantine to avoid spreading the virus.
In addition to adding a third shift at the state lab, Polis said agreements now include healthcare providers like Children’s Hospital Colorado, which can run 300 tests per day and National Jewish Health, which can run 500 tests per day.
Other labs, like Biodesix, Unipath, Mako Labs, Curative, and ATCG labs have also stepped up to run tests.
It’s Polis’ hope that these additional lab resources will help get test results to people in 1-2 days instead of 10-12 days.
“It would have been nice to have a national coordinated strategy, but we ain’t gonna wait for it,” he said.
The state is still pursuing partnerships for testing supplies and personal protective equipment, like masks.
A state testing site may find a home at the Aurora Town Center Mall, according to Mayor Mike Coffman, who divulged a phone call with the governor about the matter earlier this week. A city spokeswoman told the Sentinel no timeline or specific details have been determined as of Thursday afternoon. Polis didn’t mention the expansion on Thursday.
On the tracing front, the state health department now has 115 full-time public health workers investigating COVID-19 cases. Those tracers are able to reach about 96% of positive cases within 48 hours and there has been a 72% response rate.
Tri-County Health, which oversees public health for Aurora, has been increasing its number of tracers by about 10 per week for the month of July.
Keeping up the level of testing is imperative, Ashley Richter, the agency’s communicable disease epidemiology manager, told the Sentinel earlier this month.
“If nobody got tested, we wouldn’t think it’s circulating,” she said.