Six days and counting, mother and son anxiously await coronavirus test results

SYRACUSE, N.Y. -- Vicki Guy and her 15-year-old son got tested six days ago for COVID-19. They were told to quarantine themselves at least until the results came back.

They’re still waiting.

So are others. Complaints about delayed coronavirus test results are piling up in Onondaga County, where the first triage test site was set up a week ago at Syracuse Community Health Center. County officials today said they are still waiting for results on hundreds of tests taken last week.

The worst delays were caused by a backup at one of the labs where tests are analyzed, County Executive Ryan McMahon said. That problem has been fixed, he said.

Slow test results leave sick patients isolated and uncertain about whether they have the highly contagious and occasionally life-threatening disease. Even worse, slow results delay the county’s effort to track down other people who may be infected and get them tested.

If Guy and her son test positive, a county health investigator will contact them and ask a lot of questions designed to identify anyone they have been in contact with since getting sick. Then those people would be contacted to see if they have been sick and need testing.

As the virus spreads, the county health department is training new investigators to do the time-consuming follow-up work. But every day that a test result is delayed is another day the virus could spread undetected.

Dr. Stephen Thomas, an infectious disease specialist at Upstate University Hospital, said the hospital is trying to set up an on-site lab where test results could be delivered within hours. That would make a huge difference, both for patients and the health care system, he said.

“Imagine, if you can get a test turned around in a couple of hours, what that means for people in terms of their ability to quarantine-slash-isolate, the ability for us to stop burning PPE (protective equipment) in the hospital, the ability for us to strategically place people in different parts of the hospital,’’ Thomas said. “It would be a game changer.”

Thomas could not predict how soon such a facility could be in place. Upstate is talking with several manufacturers, all of whom are waiting for emergency approval from the federal government before their systems can be used.

In the meantime, most test results take three to five days to come back, County Executive Ryan McMahon said. The majority of tests are being done by Syracuse Community Health Center, which sends them to Quest Diagnostics labs in Pennsylvania and Virginia. The Virginia lab had a backlog last week that delayed some of the tests from Syracuse.

But even with that problem ironed out, Quest has not been able to promise results in less than three to five days, McMahon said.

That’s why it’s critical that people who get tested remain quarantined until they get their results, McMahon said. If they need help with grocery shopping or other issues, they can call the county help line at 315-218-1987, he said.

Guy, 42, of Baldwinsville, said her doctor sent her to Syracuse Community Health Center after she and her son got sick after traveling.

On Feb. 24, Guy’s son returned from Melbourne, Australia, where he had competed in a Pokemon tournament that drew players from around the world, including Hong Kong, Japan and Italy. Soon after, they both traveled to St. Louis for another tournament, returning March 2.

About a week after returning, Guy’s son fell sick with a fever and flu-like symptoms. Last Monday, Guy also became ill. The next day, St. Patrick’s Day, they both got tested. By then the Syracuse health center was testing more than 300 people a day.

Getting the test was easy – maybe too easy, Guy said. She had heard that the nasal swab test was very uncomfortable because the swab must be inserted far up the nose, but that was not Guy’s experience.

“They barely got the swab up there,’’ she said. “It didn’t hurt at all.”

Now she’s worried that her results might be inaccurate even if they come back negative.

Fortunately, she and her son are feeling better, Guy said. While they wait for test results, they have remained isolated in their home as instructed.

“We still stayed in quarantine,’’ she said. “I don’t know that everyone would do that.”

Tim Knauss is a public affairs reporter for syracuse.com/The Post-Standard. Contact him anytime: email | twitter | | 315-470-3023

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