MIAMI (WSVN) - As South Floridians who have been tested for COVID-19 await their results, local hospitals are dealing with a hurdle that is preventing them from completing the tests: the absence of an essential component.
The slowdown for coronavirus testing and the delay in results is partly because hospitals don’t have the reagent they need to do the test themselves, so the tests have to be sent out to public labs or a handful of private labs.
Lynne Levy’s husband, a local hospital patient, was tested for COVID-19 on Thursday, but as of Tuesday, he has yet to receive the results.
“I have not gotten any communication, nothing,” Levy said during a video interview.
South Florida hospital executives discussed the issue on a conference call, Monday.
When asked when they are expected to receive the reagent, Baptist Health spokesperson Dawn White said, “No, it is — I don’t have an update today. We ordered it late last week. It is back ordered. It’s not that it’s not being produced. It’s back ordered, but no, I don’t have an update as yet.”
Scientists describe what a reagent does in office space terms. Testing without a reagent is akin to having a printer without a cartridge.
Testing expert Ron Andrews described what it looks like.
“A kit will come in a box that — this is a Kleenex box — but it will come in a box. In there will be the different vials of reagents we call probes, that have the tags,” he said. “It’s the printer cartridge, if you will.”
On the conference call, Baptist Health executives said they are working with the state to ensure they receive the reagent that is in back order as soon as possible.
Memorial Healthcare officials said they currently have the ability to test about 100 results at a time in-house, but if they can get the reagent, that number would go up to about 400 at a time.
“We do have an ability to test, and we have ramped our testing up. We, like Baptist, there is a need for a particular kind of reagent,” said Dr. Stanley W. Marks, Memorial’s Chief Medical Officer. “It’s a fairly detailed issue of what kinds of reagents, but help from representatives, from the governor’s office, are absolutely welcome to be able to get this particular reagent.”
Levy said she is desperate to get the results. She and her son have also been tested, but so far, they know nothing,
“Well, that’s the most — it’s frightening, but it’s frustrating,” she said.
Pedro Jimenez, a patient at Mercy Hospital who spoke recently with 7News, is still waiting for results of his test taken Saturday, six days after he was admitted.
Medical experts who spoke with 7News said getting those reagents to hospitals across the country is the testing industry’s top priority. A timeline as to when those reagents will arrive is unknown.
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