This article is from the source 'washpo' and was first published or seen on . It last changed over 40 days ago and won't be checked again for changes.

You can find the current article at its original source at https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/dc-politics/so-you-need-a-coronavirus-test-its-not-that-simple/2020/03/13/d179d3a8-6532-11ea-845d-e35b0234b136_story.html?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=wp_homepage

The article has changed 6 times. There is an RSS feed of changes available.

Version 0 Version 1
So you need a coronavirus test? It’s not that simple. So you need a coronavirus test? It’s not that simple.
(about 5 hours later)
Across the U.S. more coronavirus tests should soon be available for people who want them, but health departments in Virginia, Maryland and D.C. say patients must still obtain approval from their doctor to be tested. Across the United States, more coronavirus tests should soon be available for people who want them, but health departments in Virginia, Maryland and the District say patients still must obtain approval from their doctor to be tested.
If a doctor decides a test is warranted according to Centers for Disease Control criteria, they must set one up through their local public health department or a commercial lab, such as LabCorp. If a doctor decides a test is warranted according to Centers for Disease Control and Prevention criteria, they must set one up through their local public health department or a commercial lab.
As part of an effort to boost testing availability, the Trump administration is considering joining with private companies to establish drive-through testing sites for coronavirus. President Trump on Friday declared a national emergency for the coronavirus pandemic, freeing up $50 billion to help states and territories address the crisis, and announced plans to expand drive-through testing.
In the meantime, residents say they are frustrated by the long waits, misinformation and confusion over who can get tested, when and by whom. But as the number of positive tests in the region neared 60 on Friday, residents expressed frustration with the long waits, misinformation and confusion over how to get tested.
“Testing is not readily available, but people in Washington keep saying it is. I feel like we’ve been mislead,” said a retired civil engineer in her 60s from Virginia Beach, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss her health. “Testing is not readily available, but people in Washington keep saying it is. I feel like we’ve been misled,” said a retired civil engineer in her 60s from Virginia Beach, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss her health.
She returned from a 16-day tour of Israel, Jordan and Egypt, including a three-night Nile River cruise, on Feb. 26, with a low fever, body aches, coughing and shortness of breath. She twice went to her urgent care but was told her travel history didn’t warrant a test. It wasn’t until Tuesday that she called Sentara Lehigh Hospital in Norfolk. She returned from a long trip, including a three-night Nile River cruise, on Feb. 26 with a low fever, body aches, coughing and shortness of breath. She twice went to urgent care but was denied a test until Tuesday when a mask-clad nurse at Sentara Leigh Hospital in Norfolk, swabbed her mouth and nose.
They consulted with the local health department and told her to come in for a test, she said. By Friday morning, she found out her result: negative. She was negative, but will still postpone visiting her 10-month old grandson in North Carolina and only planned to leave the house Friday — for a Costco run.
She will still postpone visiting her 10-month old grandson in North Carolina and only plans to leave the house Friday — for a Costco run.
“I’m relieved that I don’t have it, but I’m frustrated because it took too long,” she said.“I’m relieved that I don’t have it, but I’m frustrated because it took too long,” she said.
Despite the increasing commercial availability of the test, doctors remain the gatekeepers. Research facilities in the region, including the University of Virginia Health System and Virginia Commonwealth University, are developing new tests to meet the demand.
In a statement Thursday night, LabCorp said physicians and health care providers can order the test anywhere in the U.S., assuming the patient meets CDC guidelines. Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine started applying its in-house-developed test Wednesday at a clip of about 30 a day — with plans to increase that dramatically through robotics — said Heba Mostafa, an assistant professor of pathology.
The CDC says symptomatic patients must have traveled to a country of concern, had contact with someone who tested positive or live in a nursing home or long-term care facility to qualify. Quest Diagnostics, one of the largest commercial lab companies, is preparing to open a facility in Chantilly, Va., on Monday, plus another has opened in San Juan Capistrano, Calif., and a third is in the works for in Marlboro, Mass., spokeswoman Rachel Carr said.
The doctor ordering the test should then collect the specimen — a swab — and send it to LabCorp, the company said. Results are usually available in three to four days. The three labs operating around the clock could handle tens of thousands of tests weekly, and health care provider with a Quest account can request a test, she said.
Quest Diagnostics, one of the commercial lab companies, is preparing to launch a new lab in Chantilly, Va. on Monday, company spokeswoman Rachel Carr said. Another lab opened in San Juan Capistrano, Calif, earlier this week, while plans are underway for a third in Marlboro, Mass, she said. Despite the increasing commercial availability, doctors remain the gatekeepers.
When all three are operating, by the end of April Quest, will be able to conduct “tens of thousands” of tests from across the country every week, Carr said. In a statement Thursday, LabCorp, another major private testing company, said physicians and health care providers can order the test anywhere in the United States, assuming the patient meets CDC guidelines. The doctor ordering the test should then collect the specimen — a swab — and send it to LabCorp, the company said. Results are usually available in three to four days.
“We’re scaling up the capacity at the laboratories,” she said, adding that all three labs will operate around the clock every day of the year. However fast things are ramping up, some experts say valuable time has been lost.
Carr said any health care provider that has an account with Quest can request a test for covid-19. “A month ago, we should have already started testing widely in the community because there are people who don’t have symptoms who are spreading it to others,” said Leana Wen, a public health professor at George Washington University and the former health commissioner of Baltimore. “We lost weeks in this epidemic.”
In a call with health care providers Friday, Preetha Iyengar, an epidemiologist at D.C. Department of Health, said there are two categories of people who can be tested for covid-19 in the District. A self-employed man from Montgomery County who tested positive and spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss his health, said his wife, who later also tested positive, called four hospitals seeking tests before MedStar Georgetown University Hospital agreed to see them. His symptoms started when he returned home from international and domestic travel on March 4, culminating in a fever of 103, but because he didn’t visit a country of top concern to the CDC, he didn’t automatically qualify for the test. By Sunday, he was in an isolation room in Georgetown being swabbed.
“Nobody knew what the procedure was or what the process looks like so that was really frustrating to deal with,” he said. “The doctors were doing their best but they just didn’t know enough.”
In a call with health care providers Friday, Preetha Iyengar, an epidemiologist at D.C. Department of Health, said there are two kinds of people who can be tested in the District.
If a doctor decides a test is necessary, they should set one up through D.C. Health or a commercial lab, she said. Physicians do not need approval from a public health department to order a test from a private lab.If a doctor decides a test is necessary, they should set one up through D.C. Health or a commercial lab, she said. Physicians do not need approval from a public health department to order a test from a private lab.
Residents can only obtain a test directly through D.C. Health if they are were exposed through an ongoing outbreak, such as the one at Christ Church in Georgetown, Iyengar said. In that case, they do not need a health evaluation. Residents can only obtain a test directly through D.C. Health without a health evaluation if they are were exposed through an ongoing outbreak, such as the one at Christ Church in Georgetown, she said. At least four people associated with the historic church tested positive, starting with the Rev. Timothy Cole.
At least four people associated with the historic church tested positive, starting with the Rev. Timothy Cole.
Virginia officials have similar guidelines.Virginia officials have similar guidelines.
Testing at the public lab in Richmond is mainly reserved for cases in which the patient is considered a high-risk for infection or transmission because they have symptoms plus contact with another confirmed case, live in a long-term care facility and or is a health care worker who has taken ill, officials said. Testing at the public lab in Richmond is mainly reserved for symptomatic patients who have traveled to a country of concern, had contact with someone who tested positive, live in a nursing home or is a health care worker.
“Because the Virginia state laboratory has limited capacity, they have to prioritize which patients they’re going to test,” John Silcox, a spokesman for the Fairfax County Department of Health said. “Because the Virginia state laboratory has limited capacity, they have to prioritize which patients they’re going to test,” said John Silcox, a spokesman for the Fairfax County Department of Health.
In less urgent cases, local health officials say, doctors should use their discretion on whether to have a commercial lab perform a test. In less urgent cases, local health officials said, doctors should use their discretion about ordering a test at a private lab.
“We’re working with community health care providers to provide them with the guidance they need to assess patients and determine whether covid testing is necessary and, then, they order the test like they would order any other test,” Silcox said. Once doctors rule out the flu and other respiratory ailments, patients are swabbed for the coronavirus either at their doctor’s office or at a lab used by their doctor’s health care network, local health care officials said.
Once the flu and other respiratory ailments are ruled out, patients are swabbed for the coronavirus either inside their doctor’s office or at a lab used by their doctor’s health care network, local health care officials said. In either case, the patient is isolated in a separate room, with the door closed, and a doctor or nurse wearing a mask and other protective gear will collect a sample.
In either case, the patient is put into a separate room and, with the door closed, a doctor or nurse wearing a mask and other protective gear will collect a sample.
Coronavirus in the DMV: What you need to knowCoronavirus in the DMV: What you need to know
Yet in some cases even people with known contact with positive cases can’t get that far. Yet in some cases, even people with known contact with positive cases can’t get that far.
Rep. Don Beyer (D-Va.) and his wife, Megan, sat at a small table at a buffet dinner party on Feb. 28 with a friend from D.C. who later tested positive, but were told they could not be tested because they had no symptoms. Rep. Don Beyer (D-Va.) and his wife, Megan, sat at a small table at a buffet dinner party on Feb. 28 with a friend from the District who later tested positive, but could not get tested because they had no symptoms.
In the nearly two weeks between the dinner and the start of their self-quarantine, Beyer estimated he had contact with more than 200 people, including House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), 79, and Majority Leader Steny H. Hoyer (D-Md.), 80, and many other members of Congress. In the nearly two weeks between the dinner and the start of their self-quarantine, Beyer estimated he had contact with more than 200 people, including House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), 79, as well as Majority Leader Steny H. Hoyer (D-Md.), 80, and other members of Congress, including much of the Virginia delegation.
Beyer, 69, said Patrick Monahan, the attending physician of the U.S. Congress, told the congressman’s staff Tuesday that because there are so few tests they are reserved for people with symptoms — a rationale Beyer said he immediately accepted. But, he said, what about the people with whom he’s been interacting? Beyer, 69, said he didn’t seek special care, rather he wanted to limit the potential spread of a virus that has infected more than 141,000 people worldwide and 1,885 in the United States.
“If I’m carrying it because I’ve been exposed I could be spreading it to all kinds of people,” Beyer said in a phone interview Friday. “It’s the asymptomatic who are positive who will be responsible for community spread.” “I could be spreading it to all kinds of people,” he said in a phone interview Friday. “It’s the asymptomatic who are positive who will be responsible for community spread.”
Rebecca Tan contributed to this report. Fenit Nirappil and Rebecca Tan contributed to this report.
Known coronavirus cases in D.C., Maryland and Virginia
Metro preparing to scale back service for the virus
Local newsletters: Local headlines (8 a.m.) | Afternoon Buzz (4 p.m.)Local newsletters: Local headlines (8 a.m.) | Afternoon Buzz (4 p.m.)
Like PostLocal on Facebook | Follow @postlocal on Twitter | Latest local newsLike PostLocal on Facebook | Follow @postlocal on Twitter | Latest local news