The Times Herald (Norristown, PA)
Taking the test
More public health labs across the nation can now test for the coronavirus, COVID-19, and capacities are expanding, but there is still just one testing site for samples taken in Berks County and southeastern Pennsylvania.
Even with capabilities expanded, not every person who wants to be tested can be accommodated. As late as Wednesday afternoon, all 16 cases in Pennsylvania are traceable and no “community spread” cases have been documented.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported that, as of Tuesday night, there were 79 public health labs across the country performing COVID-19 diagnostic tests. More commercial labs are in the process of implementing testing capabilities.
Samples from Berks and southeastern Pennsylvania are tested at a state lab in Exton, Chester County.
The state will pick up the tab for testing in Exton, but private tests, when they become available, would be billed to a private insurance carrier. Many carriers have agreed to pay 100% of that cost.
The most recent figure available was that the state lab can perform 150 tests daily. The capacity has been increasing since testing began there earlier this month.
Though the increased testing capabilities mean a wider group of patients can be tested, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s criteria must be met ahead of a test.
“We can’t test everybody who may want to be tested,” said Dr. Debra Powell, chief of the section of infectious diseases, and medical director of infection prevention at Reading Hospital.
Symptoms for the virus are fever, cough and shortness of breath, and range from mild symptoms to severe illness and death. These symptoms can appear two to 14 days after exposure.
If someone is experiencing symptoms and believes he or she may have been exposed to or have COVID-19, the first step is to call the doctor. This ensures the doctor can take the appropriate measures should the patient need to be seen in person, officials said.
“The first thing we ask everybody at the time of registration is, ‘Have you traveled and what symptoms do you have,’ “Powell said. “If they have respiratory symptoms and a travel history, then we have additional questions we ask them.”
Testing is not done at the hospital, but samples are taken on site, then sent to Exton. It’s not clear if patients have gone to hospitals in Berks to seek testing.
Prior to taking the samples, the hospital checks with the Pennsylvania Department of Health to determine if the patient meets the criteria for testing due to the limited number of tests that can be performed.
“We call the Department of Health and have a discussion regarding the patient’s history and their information to see if they meet the parameters for testing,” said Marie Keim, director of epidemiology and infection prevention at Tower Health. “Then we would only be able to take those samples after we’ve received that approval from the Department of Health. That’s a critical piece of the process.”
Two of the determining factors are whether the patient has had close contact with a laboratory-confirmed COVID-19 patient within 14 days of symptoms appearing, or a history of travel from effected nations — including China,
Iran, Italy, Japan and South Korea — within 14 days of symptoms appearing.
If a patient meets the criteria, samples are taken from the nose, throat and lungs.
According to Powell, results from tests performed at Exton laboratory are available in about four to five hours. A positive test means a patient can then be treated at a hospital. Treatment is supportive care for the symptoms.
A patient with significant symptoms would likely be