18 days for COVID-19 test results
The co-owner of an art studio in Elgin said he had to wait 18 days to find out he tested positive for COVID-19, a delay that is being attributed to a backlog in the midst of outbreaks in other parts of the country.
Tanner Melvin, who owns Side Street Studio Arts with his wife, Erin Rehberg, said the wait was frustrating.
“The scary part is that we don’t know where we got it,” he said. “We took precautions to the point that it’s such a pain in the rear end.”
The couple believe Rehberg also had the disease. Both suffered from exhaustion, a scratchy throat, body aches, sweats and loss of smell and taste. Melvin had chest congestion while Rehberg had eye irritation. Neither had a temperature.
Melvin said he took a COVID-19 test June 30 at the CVS MinuteClinic in South Elgin and was told results would take three to five days. The store told him Quest Diagnostics was the lab in charge of testing, he said. After unsuccessful attempts to get in touch with the lab, CVS eventually said results could take up to 10 days — and that was on the 11th day, he said.
Melvin said he finally got his results Saturday. “There is no oversight for them about the notification system. They can just extend it as long as they want and allow people to become afraid, scared or worse,” he said.
Quest Diagnostics issued a media statement late Monday saying demand for testing “continues to outpace Quest’s capacity and is highest in the South, Southwest and West regions of the country.” Quest is the first lab that got authorization two days ago from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for a new “pool testing” technique, the company said. That allows labs to group several tests together: if the test comes back negative, everyone is negative; if it’s positive, each sample gets retested individually.
Quest Diagnostics said its average turnaround time now is more than two days — up from slightly more than a day a week ago — for “Priority 1” patients, which includes hospital patients, preoperative patients in acute care settings and symptomatic health care workers. “For all other patients, the average turnaround time is seven or more days. While some patients may receive their test result in as quickly as two to three days, a small subset of patients may experience wait times of up to two weeks,” the company said.
Charlie Rice-Minoso, Midwest spokesperson for CVS Health, its lab partners are experiencing backlogs because the increase in COVID-19 cases in certain areas of the country is causing “extremely high demand for tests across the board.” “Currently, due to these factors, it may take six to 10 days for people to receive their results and, in some instances, our lab partners may take even longer to return results. Our lab partners are working hard to address this issue.”
Melvin posted on Facebook about his symptoms July 15, before it was confirmed he had COVID-19. He said people are hesitant to talk about having symptoms or testing positive, and many business owners are reluctant to disclose exposure among staff or clients, but it’s necessary to have an open conversation.
“I don’t feel that people are talking about it enough,” said Melvin, who said he’s feeling “almost 100%” despite some lingering side effects like occasional dizziness.
The art studio has been closed to the public since March. Melvin said he and his wife have socially distanced, worn masks in public as well as gloves at the studio, which has an ongoing art supply drive for Elgin-area youths. They have been careful about sanitizing and ordering groceries online to minimize risk, he said.
Melvin said he hasn’t had contact with staff members or volunteers in about a month. He frequented a bar/restaurant once, in early June, and stayed outdoors, he said.
Waiting nearly three weeks for the test result is unacceptable, he said, particularly for people who might not have a support system or face pressure to go to work.
“You can only protect yourself so far and after that, you roll the dice,” he said. “But at least you should do everything possible.”
