In the past week the state has seen an average of nearly 53,000 daily tests, up from about 35,000 five weeks ago, a 50 percent increase.
Those increases have overwhelmed two of the best tools for tracking and controlling the virus’ spread: testing and contact tracing. Because of delays, just 28 percent of Michiganders were in quarantine at the time of their diagnosis, Khaldun said Thursday.
“This means that over two thirds of the positive cases are out and potentially spreading the virus to others,” she said.
In Lansing, Sparrow Laboratories, which services hospitals, surgery centers and physicians’ offices in mid Michigan is receiving about 2,800 test kits a day to process, but only has the capacity to process just 2,000, said Dr. James Richard, the lab’s medical director.
That means a wait of five to six days, right now, so Sparrow has changed its procedures. Starting Monday, only those with a doctor’s order can now get tested.
While that ensures people who are feeling ill can get tested more quickly, it is also likely to mean that some asymptomatic cases will go undetected.
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Public health officials warn Thanksgiving travelers that even if they test negative, that does not lessen the need to maintain safety protocols when around people outside your household. The tests still produce a significant percentage of false-negatives and even when they are accurate only tell you your status at a particular time and day.
A negative test given five days before the Thanksgiving break tells a student virtually nothing about whether she is carrying the virus when she arrives home. Similarly, even a negative test that is turned around the day before coming home may not yet reflect a recently acquired virus.
Officials urge Michiganders, including college students returning home, to quarantine for 14 days before seeing others to make sure they do not have a coronavirus infection.
“If they haven’t been quarantining, wearing masks, etc., prior to travel then it’s possible they could become infected between the time they are tested and get their results and traveling to a family gathering,” Sutfin, of MDHHS, wrote in an email to Bridge Michigan.
Many public health officials say they don’t expect college students and others to commit to an extended quarantine to ensure safety.
Instead, those hoping for a taste of home cooking or to travel “will rush COVID testing sites like it’s Black Friday,” predicted Richard of Sparrow.
He said one person on his lab staff had just fielded a call from an angry traveler heading to Aruba.
“They were at the airport waiting to get on their plane and they needed that result,” Richard said, adding: “Our phone call staff should get hazardous duty pay.”
Supply and staff shortages return
At the same time demand for testing is increasing, supply chains are being constricted as labs across the country scramble for supplies.
At Beaumont Health, supplies for tests that offer results in two hours have been cut by 20 percent the past two weeks “as the government has to redistribute some of these test kits nationally,” CEO John Fox, said during a call with reporters Thursday. The Beaumont lab continues to use other tests, but they take longer to process, he said.
Until recently, Henry Ford Health System faced “no significant challenges” in turning around tests within about 12 hours, said CEO Wright Lassiter.
That has changed, he noted Thursday: “The note I got this morning shows that, as of yesterday, we were only able to complete 60 percent of our tests in 24 hours.”
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Want a COVID test for your Michigan Thanksgiving? Expect… to… wait. - Bridge Michigan
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