By Rita Lord
Northside News

This article contains information that was current as of May 1.

In an April 20 press briefing, Governor Tony Evers said Wisconsin is making efforts to increase COVID-19 testing from 7,000 tests per day (49,000 per week) to 12,000 per day (85,000 per week) by adding more labs and testing sites in the days and weeks to come. Over 250,000 testing supplies were ordered. The Wisconsin National Guard was setting up mobile test sites across the state.

One month ago, there were eight testing labs in Wisconsin. At press time there are 50 testing labs, and the test rate is more than 11,000 tests per day.

What’s involved in a coronavirus test?

A healthcare professional takes a very deep swab of your nose and throat. Those samples are sent to a lab to be tested. 

Can I be tested for COVID-19?

According to the Wisconsin Department of Health Services (DHS), the state has revised its recommended testing criteria to expand access to testing; however, Wisconsinites seeking a COVID-19 test are still required to receive an order from a doctor. If you are sick with fever, cough or shortness of breath, isolate yourself at home and call your doctor. Be sure to share all your symptoms and details of any recent travel. Your doctor will decide if you need to be tested, but due to limited supplies, many people will not be tested. If your symptoms are too severe to be managed at home, call 911 or call ahead to the emergency department.

If I want to be tested, why won’t they test me?

Healthcare systems evaluate their staffing, testing supplies and current symptoms of an individual and their risk factors (e.g., age, underlying health conditions) to prioritize who is tested. Many people have mild symptoms and coming to a clinic or hospital to be tested could put you or others at increased risk. 

DHS is prioritizing testing to include:

• Hospitalized patients with COVID-19 symptoms;
• Patients with COVID-19 symptoms for whom rapid diagnosis is needed to inform infection control practices (e.g., labor and delivery, dialysis, aerosol-generating procedures, etc.);
• Residents of a long-term care facility with COVID-19 symptoms;
• Residents in a jail, prison or other congregate setting with COVID-19 symptoms;
• Health care workers or first responders (e.g., fire, EMS, police) with COVID-19 symptoms;
• Essential staff in high-consequence congregate settings (e.g., prisons or jails) with COVID-19 symptoms;
• Utility workers (water, sewer, gas, electric, power generation, distribution and production of raw materials; oil and biofuel refining) with COVID-19 symptoms.

Currently, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommends that individuals without symptoms be tested only if they are in high-risk settings like nursing homes.

Will there be mass testing?

While there are efforts across the country to expand testing, at this time testing supplies are limited. Community healthcare partners are working on plans to provide joint testing sites. As these are finalized, information will be shared with the community.

Is there a home COVID-19 test available?

On April 21 the U.S. Food & Drug Administration (FDA) gave emergency authorization to the first test for patient at-home sample collection. The Laboratory Corporation of America (LabCorp) COVID-19 RT-PCR Test (Pixel Test) can be used to test samples collected by patients at home using LabCorp’s home collection kit. 

A doctor’s order is required to obtain a kit. The cost is $119. The patient collects a sample using the special nasal swabs in the kit and mails the sample, in an insulated package, to a LabCorp lab for testing.

Initially, LabCorp will give priority to health care workers and first responders who have symptoms or may have been exposed to the virus. The company intends to make the test available to consumers in the coming weeks.

The FDA authorization applies only to the LabCorp Pixel Test and is not a general authorization for at-home collection of patient samples using other collection swabs, media or tests, or for tests fully conducted at home. Beware of scams that offer COVID-19 tests and treatments for home use.

Can I be tested for antibodies to see if I’ve already had COVID-19?

The FDA has given emergency authorization to several antibody tests, and another 70 companies have been given the okay to sell their tests if they follow certain rules. Both Quest Diagnostics and LabCorp have begun offering antibody tests to consumers nationwide, but neither test has received official authorization from the FDA.

Currently, antibody testing is not widely available in Wisconsin. If you have tested positive for COVID-19 and have fully recovered, ask your doctor or hospital if there’s a way to get your antibodies checked.

If you test positive for antibodies, that usually means you’ve had COVID-19, but you may get a negative result if you had the virus only a short time. It’s also possible to be exposed and not develop antibodies. You may also get a false positive, which means you have antibodies but had a different kind of coronavirus.

Sources: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC.gov); Wisconsin Department of Health Services (dhs.wisconsin.gov); Public Health Madison-Dane County (publichealthmdc.com); Food & Drug Administration (www.fda.gov); Laboratory Corporation of America (labcorp.com); WebMD (webmd.com)