Kalamazoo County’s health director hopes to speed up testing for local cases of the corona virus by finding a lab that is closer to home.
Jim Rutherford says all samples now go to a state lab in Lansing, where there's a backlog. Rutherford says only a few labs in the area have the equipment necessary to do the screening for COVID-19. But he hopes one of them can be certified to test for the virus soon.
"Hospital organizations or systems like Bronson, Borgess, to get them online and private labs."
Rutherford spoke to Kalamazoo County commissioners on Tuesday, March 17. He said the wait time for test results may continue to get longer as the virus spreads.
"What used to be an anticipated 24-hour wait time is now three or four times that. So, that's what we're struggling with all over the country."
He says most patients with flu-like symptoms are screened for more common viruses first before COVID-19 tests are ordered. He says access to more labs would not only allow more testing but speed up the process of getting results. , Some hospitals in the Detroit area, and the University of Michigan, are already conducting their own coronavirus tests.
