Lack of supplies forces cutback of COVID-19 testing in some central Ohio areas
COLUMBUS (WCMH) — The COVID-19 testing site at Columbus Public Health is staffed by doctors and nurses from the local hospital systems on a rotating basis.
Last week, Columbus Public Health scaled back the testing to only those individuals who were sick or exhibiting symptoms.
Columbus Public Health Commissioner Dr. Mysheika Roberts said the change was made due to shortages in lab supplies.
“We really wanted to keep our hospital testing for the sick who need those answers as quickly as possible and so we did make that adjustment last week for testing at Columbus Public Health,” Roberts said.
Individuals who are asymptomatic still have plenty of options for testing at local community health centers, urgent care facilities and some retail locations.
In Reynoldsburg, a pop-up testing site drew hundreds of people Monday.
Primary One Health CEO Charleta Tavares said they’ve been asked to pick up the cases that previously were getting tested by the hospitals. She said accessing testing supplies has become increasingly challenging.
“In some cases, we’ve had to limit the number we test, but we’ve been able to continue testing,” Tavares said. “It’s just that we don’t get as many as we might want.”
Tavares says Primary One Health has partnered with LabCorps for testing. She said the average turnaround time for results has increased from two to more than four days.
Tavares added longer wait times impede the ability of public health workers to slow down the spread of the virus.
“If you don’t have the test back in a timely fashion, then people are going to continue to interact with individuals not knowing whether or not they have COVID-19 and it’s going to have a negative impact on contact tracing,” Tavares said.