VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. — Health officials with the Virginia Department of Health say Virginia is experiencing a COVID-19 testing backlog.
Dr. Parham Jaberi, Deputy Commissioner Public Health and Preparedness with VDH, said several factors have led to a testing backlog across the Commonwealth.
“The reason that we’re seeing these delays is that the number of tests that are being done and requested is increasing the capacity that we have at the state level in the public and private sector,” said Parham. "This isn’t just about staff, reagents, equipment, or swabs, it’s all of those. So, if one of those that we need is not adequate, it slows down the whole chain."
Data from VDH shows since mid-June, the average COVID-19 test turnaround time (TAT) for commercial labs nearly doubled. On average, it’s taking commercial labs at least six days to process tests. Last month, the processing time was roughly three days. Parham said commercial labs are experiencing greater backlogs than hospitals and public health agencies.
Parham said VDH has a prioritization system in place to ease the backlog. The plan helps health officials determine the highest public health priority when it comes to testing throughout various sectors.
“What we can do as a state is make sure our state lab is highly prioritized,” said Parham. “We’re working with our academic universities, the University of Virginia and Virginia Commonwealth University, who are lending help to the state in getting the priority testing done to help ensure they’re getting the equipment, swabs, reagents, the people and look forward to, in the coming weeks, being able to bring some of those solutions forth.”
Some people are waiting even longer than six days for test results.
Bailey Jones, a Chesapeake resident said she was tested for COVID-19 at a CVS location in Hampton Roads. Jones said she decided to get tested after learning someone who her group of friends came in contact with had COVID-19. Jones said she developed symptoms fatigue, fever, and chills. She decided to isolate herself immediately after taking a test.
Ten days later, she’s still waiting for results.
"It was very weird being in the middle of this virus that is being taken so seriously and not only having to deal with wondering what’s coming next symptom-wise and then not even knowing if you have it or how precautious you should be," said Jones. “We are being overly precautious, but what if someone else is waiting for test results and they’re just fed up with it and just say screw it?"
CVS Health’s COVID-19 drive-thru tests are processed by independent, third-party labs.
The pharmacy provided the following statement in regards to its COVID-19 test turnaround time:
“The increase in cases of COVID-19 in certain areas of the country is causing extremely high demand for tests across the board. This has caused backlogs for lab partners and is delaying their processing of patient samples. Currently, due to these factors, it may take 6-10 days for people to receive their results and, in some instances, lab partners may take even longer to return results. CVS Health’s lab partners are working hard to address this issue.”
Parham said processing tests faster is critical in order to contain the spread of the virus.
“If our testing time goes beyond fourteen days, it would lose a lot of value, so at the end of the day, it’s hard for that patient to know if they’re positive or not. It’s also important for contact tracing,” said Parham.