Coronavirus testing in Florida not keeping up with demand, hospital chief says
Sarasota Memorial Hospital is awaiting coronavirus test results from 60 patients, as the medical staff continues to treat a 70-year-old man who has already tested positive for COVID-19.
The Florida Department of Health and Sarasota Memorial announced late Thursday that the man, who is from Massachusetts, has tested positive. The man was admitted to the hospital on Tuesday and is now in isolation.
As of Friday, Sarasota Memorial Hospital had sent samples from 186 of their patients to be tested for the coronavirus. Of those, there was one positive case, 85 negative cases and 60 cases still awaiting results, according to hospital CEO David Verinder.
“Overall testing capacity in our state and around the country is growing, but not fast enough to keep up with the public demand,” Verinder said.
A second case connected to Sarasota was among 16 new cases announced by the Florida Department of Health overnight. The 50-year-old man is a seasonal Sarasota resident from New York who is currently being treated at a Broward County hospital, according to Sarasota Health Department health officer Chuck Henry.
That seasonal resident hasn’t been in Sarasota since late December, the health department has been told.
“They did recently travel all over the U.S. and recently returned to Florida,” Henry said. “He hasn’t traveled outside the US but extensively in the country.”
The patient being treated at Sarasota Memorial Hospital hadn’t traveled recently to officials’ knowledge, as of Friday.
Shortcomings in coronavirus testing
As of Friday afternoon, no hospital, urgent care center or physician’s office in Florida, including Sarasota Memorial Hospital had the capability to test patients for the coronavirus, and instead were having to send samples to outside labs. Sarasota Memorial Hospital does have the capability to collect the samples.
Local health departments are also collecting samples at their offices or at the homes of people who are quarantined, and sending them off to be tested, according to Henry.
Priority for testing is being given to those showing symptoms who have had direct contact with someone who has tested positive for COVID-19 or has visited one of the countries identified as high risk for the disease.
Later Friday afternoon, Gov. Ron DeSantis announced that the state had received 1,000 of the 2,500 testing kits that had been ordered and sent them to Florida hospitals. Lab Corp and Quest Diagnostics have also begun handling some COVID-19 testing
The average turnaround time for COVID-19 testing through the Florida Health Department of Health’s three labs in Tampa, Miami and Jacksonville, each which is working seven days a week currently, was about 48 hours as of Friday.
There are 16 Sarasota Memorial Hospital staff members who have been asked to enter self-quarantine as their exposure is being evaluated, hospital officials said.
This story was originally published March 13, 2020 at 4:59 PM.
