Testing for COVID-19 is key to getting the pandemic under control, but labs have found it hard to get the elements they need for tests. At the University of Virginia, two doctors pulled out all the stops and have now come up with their own test – one that yields results in 24 hours.
When the new coronavirus was first detected, the Centers for Disease Control sent what UVA microbiologist Amy Mathers describes as a recipe for testing. The federal government could provide a mix.
“But you still need to find the eggs, and the oil and then you need the oven," Mathers explains.
Rather than wait for supplies from CDC, Dr. Mathers and her colleague Mendy Poulter pulled out all the stops.
“We did e-mail, phoning friends, I reached out to every lab director I knew where there had been a positive case, and asked them if we could get viral RNA,” she says.
The bureaucracy of a university was no impediment. Research labs on grounds sent equipment and supplies. So did colleagues at the National Institutes of Health and the University of Washington.
The test is still labor intensive, limiting the number that can be done each day, but Mathers says UVA can now test dozens of patients and staff.
“We can do 23 per run, and maybe two of those runs a day," Mathers explains.
"What’s your turnaround time now with the new test," asks RADIO IQ reporter Sandy Hausman.
"So we’re trying to turn them around in 24 hours,” Mathers responds.
Commercial labs are taking five or six days to return results, but Mathers hopes they will help with testing in doctors’ offices and drive-throughs. In the meantime, those who were facing nearly a week of quarantine at the hospital if COVID-19 was suspected can now be released in a day, and protective resources made available to those who do test positive.
This report, provided by Virginia Public Radio, was made possible with support from the Virginia Education Association.
