COVID-19 testing: Long waits for results ‘unacceptable’

Each of the three times Jeremy Jason has endured a deep nose swab to find out if he has coronavirus, it has taken a week or more to get the results.

He last took the test on July 3 after waiting in line for four hours at the Orange County Convention Center, one of the state’s busiest test sites. Jason, who is furloughed from his job at Disney, still hasn’t heard if he’s positive and potentially contagious to others.

“I want to know earlier to keep others safe,” Jason said, noting that he doesn’t have symptoms but is careful to wear a mask and keep at least 6 feet away from others.

Local health officials, policymakers and Gov. Ron DeSantis agree — too many people are being forced to wait far too long for their test results. And the places that do rapid testing have a limited supply.

AdventHealth said its 50 Centra Care locations, which perform about 20,000 virus tests weekly, including some rapid tests, is working to at least double its capacity in the coming weeks.

“Centra Care cannot take care of the needs of the entire Central Florida community,” said Dr. Scott Brady, vice president of ambulatory services at AdventHealth. “We’re trying as best as we can to double and triple our capacity and open our hours later.”

DeSantis said the state is trying to secure contracts with labs that can turn around results within about three days.

“When the tests are taking a long time to get turned around, if you’re asymptomatic, what are you supposed to do?” DeSantis said earlier this week. “Stay home and wait? … Then if you’re symptomatic, obviously, you need to know whether you have coronavirus or you have something else.”

Labs are so backed up from a surge in new tests that it’s not unusual for people to wait a week or more to learn whether they are positive for the virus or not.

Speed is crucial in fighting the pandemic because the longer the wait, the more opportunity there could be for potentially infected people to expose others before they know they are positive.

“Realistically speaking, anything that takes more than 48 hours [is too long],” said Dr. Raul Pino, the Orange County health officer for the state’s Department of Health. He has said health officials are fighting to shorten wait times for results.

A pre-recorded message on AdventHealth’s coronavirus hotline acknowledges the delays and calls them “unacceptable.”

The long waits hit Floridians in the psyche and in the wallet.

People stuck in the backlog described the anxiety of waiting on potentially life-altering health news as well as hold-ups in earning a paycheck because employers require workers who were exposed or sick to test negative before they return to the job.

That has helped fuel regular predawn crowds at urgent care centers across the region, where a limited number of a rapid-result version of the test are available each day.

The AdventHealth’s Centra Care locations are turning people away as early as 6:30 a.m. because so many are looking for the faster test — which is free — that takes about 15 minutes to show a result rather than be shipped off to a lab for processing.

Many people come early, sitting in portable folding chairs in the dark to secure a spot in line.

One woman was in line last week at a CareSpot, operated by Orlando Health, on Lee Vista Boulevard, after she was turned away from a nearby Centra Care.

She said she had fully recovered from the virus and hoped to receive a rapid test so her employer would allow her to return to her restaurant job.

But she found out the CareSpot centers do not offer rapid tests, so she headed to a third place — Urgent Care of Longwood — where she tested negative.

Pia Selassie, her fiancé and her son arrived to CareSpot at 5:30 a.m. in hopes of passing a test before they fly to Puerto Rico next week to visit family.

An executive order signed by Puerto Rico Gov. Wanda Vázquez Garced mandated as of July 15, visitors to the island needed to prove they tested negative for the virus.

“The coronavirus situation is a lot,” she said. “It’s changing everything we do.”

CVS doesn’t offer rapid tests, either, and requires patients to exhibit symptoms in order to schedule an appointment there.

Results take five to seven days, and there are only 50 tests available a day at each location, a CVS spokeswoman said.

At the Orange County Convention Center – the state’s busiest test site with 63,266 swab tests completed since it opened in March — officials are optimistic the wait times for results will improve after switching to a new a lab two weeks ago.

In a news conference Thursday, DeSantis said the state was adding special lanes at the convention center for people showing symptoms of the virus, in hopes it will expedite results.

In addition, information is now collected electronically, which should speed up the process, said Mike Jachles, a spokesman for the site.

The drive-through site has been known for hours-long wait times, which Jachles attributes to the early-morning rush. He suggested coming to get tested during slower hours and to check its Twitter feed, which offers real-time updates on the wait.

On Tuesday, cars were in and out of the parking lot in about five minutes, Jachles said.

But test sites across the region fill up quickly.

A temporary site that opened at Osceola Heritage Park this week had already closed one morning shortly after 8:30 a.m. As more cars arrived at the entrance, a deputy sheriff announced over an intercom, “Testing is closed for today. Come back tomorrow morning at 6 a.m.”

rygillespie@orlandosentinel.com, achen@orlandosentinel.com

Editor’s note: An earlier version of this story did not fully identify Dr. Raul Pino.