Physicians, state make plea for more widespread COVID-19 testing
A sign stands at a Washington Health System COVID-19 testing site at Wellness Way in South Strabane Township.
A Washington Health System COVID-19 testing site stands ready for use at Wellness Way in South Strabane Township.
The medical director of Centerville Clinics would like to have the ability to test all of its 40,000 clients for COVID-19 as the state’s economy slowly reopens.
Dr. Daniel Holt said more testing for the virus would lead to a truer picture of the extent of the highly contagious virus in a community.
“The bad thing is there are still a lot of people in Southwestern Pennsylvania who are susceptible to this virus,” Holt said.
“I would like to test everyone who wanted one. We are not able to do that because there are not enough supplies,” he said.
Pennsylvania health Secretary Rachel Levine and Gov. Tom Wolf have expressed concerns about the short supply of the swabs and chemical agents that are needed for COVID-19 testing.
Wolf announced Wednesday that he was prepared to slowly reopen more businesses in areas of the state where there is a low infection rate, drawing concerns from the Allegheny County Health Department.
“As people slowly return to work this virus will have a chance to spread. That’s where the risk is until there is a vaccine,” Allegheny Health Department Director Debra Bogen said Wednesday.
She, like Levine, is still urging residents to continue wearing masks in public, frequently wash hands and practice social distancing.
Pennsylvania has been limiting its laboratory to testing front-line workers and those who are very sick.
Centerville Clinics has been doing a good job of testing, but it, too, is limited to testing only people who are symptomatic, said Erika Robaugh, a nurse practitioner there.
“If they have no symptoms we can’t test them. If there was an unlimited number of testing supplies, we could do that,” Robaugh said.
Wolf said Thursday during a call with reporters that there is “clearly, across the nation, a lack of capacity” for coronavirus testing. For example, states recently received a type of test known as the Abbott platform from the federal government, but Wolf said most only got enough supplies to test 100 people.
“There is not enough capacity with platforms, and where there seems to be capacity with platforms, there’s not with test kits,” Wolf added. “Right now, we have to rely on the federal government for that. They are pretty much allocating as they see fit with scarce resources, and so there’s a lot of pleading and begging that goes on there.”
He added that “Pennsylvania needs to do what it can.”
He said Maryland First Lady Yumi Hogan, who has family in South Korea, was able to help her state obtain 500,000 tests from that country.
Pennsylvania doesn’t have that same option, but officials are considering “repurposing” existing laboratories as one possible avenue for enabling more testing, Wolf said Thursday.
A Harvard University study released Monday, Roadmap to Pandemic Resilience, concluded the nation needs to perform five million tests a day by early June to safely reopen the economy. More testing “can rebuild trust in our public safety,” the authors stated in the report.
Building contact tracing investigations could also “prevent cycles of shutdowns,” the study said.
Washington Health System spokesperson Stephanie Wagoner said WHS also favors increased testing.
WHS currently has a sufficient supply of testing kits, but that’s based on the amount of tests the system is performing.
“As we, and the nation, continue to increase our testing, this may change. Previously, only those presenting with symptoms were tested,” said Wagoner. “WHS is working on phasing in a proactive approach to testing some of our patients that do not present with symptoms.”
The hospital recently began testing obstetric patients who are scheduled for a Caesarean section and induction deliveries a few days before they come in for their delivery. It plans to begin testing patients scheduled for surgical procedures, and testing will increase as WHS resumes elective surgeries and procedures.
WHS and Allegheny Health Network also limit testing to symptomatic patients, in part to conserve limited personal protective equipment.
Dr. Thomas Corkery, chief medical officer at Canonsburg Hospital, said testing everyone who wanted a COVID-19 test would determine who’s infected and needs to self-isolate, but that’s not going to happen.
Antibody testing, which indicates who has already had COVID-19, could be helpful for reopening the country, Corkery said.
“(Reopening) is going to be a gradual process. This virus is going to be with us at least for this year, and probably into next year,” said Corkery. “Other states opening up now are going to teach us a lesson.”
Rite Aid is adding four self-serve COVID-19 testing sites in Pennsylvania, including one in Monroeville. The drive-through testing sites use self-swab nasal tests and are open seven days a week, from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Each site can conduct roughly 200 tests each day at no cost to patients who meet criteria set by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Patients have to pre-register on riteaid.com.
MedExpress also offers COVID-19 drive-up testing at several locations, including Washington, Uniontown and Mt. Lebanon. MedExpress asks patients to first call their local center to determine if they meet CDC-based screening criteria before visiting.
For a full map of testing sites, visit the State Department of Health’s website.
Staff writer Gideon Bradshaw contributed to this report.
Testing advice for those who suspect they have the novel coronavirus:
?Testing
For patients: Your health care provider will determine if you need to be tested for COVID-19. Stay home and call your health care provider for advice if you are feeling sick.
For providers: For testing through the Pennsylvania Department of Heath, consultation is required. Call us at 1-877-PA-HEALTH and advise the patient to stay home.
Testing through a commercial laboratory does not require consultation.
There is one testing location in Greene County (WHS-Greene, Waynesburg) and five in Washington County:
- Joseph A. Yablonski Memorial Clinic, Fredericktown
- MedExpress locations in Washington and Peters Township
- Washington Family Doctors, Washington
- Washington Health System Building No. 3, South Strabane Twp.