Peoria-area health officials say they're tightening the criteria for who gets tested for the coronavirus. Dr. Lori Rasca is medical director of UnityPoint Health's microbiology lab. She said despite the proclamations of some prominent national figures, there just aren't enough tests to go around.
"We want everyone to be aware, we want everyone to be tested. We just do not have the capability of doing that," Rasca said. "This is not a UnityPoint issue. It's not an OSF issue. It is a national issue that is being faced by many, many of our patients, and we are gravely concerned."OSF HealthCare chief operating officer Michael Cruz said the nationwide shortage of COVID-19 testing kits and equipment makes it difficult to get a handle on how many cases there really are.
"The entire healthcare system, 14 hospitals, has three or four hundred," Cruz said, referring to the OSF network. "So if we're not careful about how we do that test, we can burn through that. We can do that in one day."
OSF has the capability to test for most coronavirus strains, but the COVID-19 is a new mutation that requires additional measures.
Monica Hendrickson, administrator of the Peoria City/County Health Department, said it's time to change the mentality of people wondering if they've been exposed to COVID-19.
"We no longer should be thinking of ourselves as whether or not we have been exposed. More importantly, that we have been exposed, and what we are going to be doing to eliminate or slow down that transmission," she said.
Hendrickson said the mindset shift is not meant to cause hysteria, but to heighten awareness of how the virus' transmission works, and how important measures like social distancing are to "flattening the curve" and preventing an overwhelmed healthcare system.
Cruz said the COVID-19 community surveillance problem is compounded by the two to three days it takes for test results to come back from a state lab in Springfield. Rasca said that turnaround time has increased in the last couple weeks as the labs are being swamped with more requests.
OSF is looking into private vendors offering molecular testing that returns results in minutes, or faster sendoff testing. UnityPoint is currently using private testing labs.
Rasca said tests need to be used for those most at risk, such as the elderly or people with pre-existing respiratory conditions. Other officials echoed that sentiment.
"Because we do not have that much testing available, we need to make sure we prioritize that testing for those individuals who, with a diagnosis of COVID-19, are at a higher risk of mortality or fatality," said Hendrickson.
Hendrickson said a younger person in good health will likely recover and avoid spreading illness after staying at home and self-medicating, regardless if they were tested or not. But for the vulnerable, the novel coronavirus can be fatal.There are four positive cases in the tri-county region as of Wednesday. Eighteen people tested negative. Another 15 are pending. There are 288 positive cases total in Illinois.
Over the weekend, OSF HealthCare launched a COVID-19 Pandemic Digital Response Center. Two auditoriums in Peoria's Jump Trading Simulation and Education Center are staffed with more than 100 registered nurses and other healthcare professionals 24/7 to answer virus questions and make assessments over the phone.
The hotline can be reached at 1-833 OSF-KNOW (1-833-673-5669). More than 650 calls were received within 24 hours of the hotline's launch.
OSF also introduced the Clare chatbot online to answer COVID-19 questions and direct patients to resources based on their needs.
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