OH says majority of patients understand strict testing regulations for COVID-19

March 17, 2020 | 12:09 am

Updated March 23, 2020 | 3:01 pm

Though a few Daviess County residents have been tested for COVID-19 thus far, Owensboro Health says there have been some issues with administering tests to each individual who requests one.

According to Chief Medical Officer Francis DuFrayne, Owensboro Health has a supply of COVID-19 testing kits available, but last week DuFrayne said he hoped the amount of kits could soon be replenished.

“Testing is tightly controlled, and there are two reasons for that,” DuFrayne said. “One, there’s not enough testing kits. And two, they don’t want to create a public sense of panic and be administering a great number of tests that would never need to be done.”

Those tight regulations combined with fairly low inventory means not every patient who requests a test will get one, DuFrayne said.

“We’ve had a few issues. Not a lot,” he said. “I think the public is responding really well to [the visitor restrictions and testing regulations]. The overwhelming response has been positive. The average person understands you can’t test everyone.”

Though Gov. Andy Beshear has waived costs for COVID-19 tests and has said everyone can be tested, DuFrayne said it’s not exactly that simple.

President Trump recently announced that around 400,000 more tests would be available in the U.S. this week, but hospitals across the country are still short on much-needed supplies, including testing kits.

For now, those who request a COVID-19 test must display severe symptoms of the virus, which include fever, coughing and shortness of breath. Those with moderate or light symptoms make up the “vast majority” of COVID-19 cases, DuFrayne said.

“Five percent have no symptoms at all, or such mild symptoms that don’t realize they have an infection. 75-80 percent of people have moderate-to-severe symptoms that wouldn’t require hospitalization, but they isolate themselves at home,” he said. “15 percent are sick enough that they require hospitalization.”

Those who are extremely ill will be tested, DuFrayne said, and if admitted to OHRH, they would stay in special treatment rooms referred to as negative pressure, which don’t allow air to escape.

Each floor of the hospital is equipped with a negative pressure room, but if a surge of COVID-19 outbreaks were to hit Daviess County, DuFrayne said he and his team have considered turning an entire floor of the hospital into a COVID-19 treatment space.

Those who display symptoms severe enough to be tested onsite have their results sent to the state health department, and a result is received within 24-48 hours. But other tests may take a bit longer, DuFrayne said.

“For others [showing less severe symptoms], we may test them [through LabCorp] and those results may take three or four days to come back. They probably wouldn’t be sent to the state’s lab,” said Vice President of Medical Affairs Michael Kelley. “Those patients would be asked to self-quarantine until their results came back.”

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Click here for all of our coronavirus coverage.

The Owensboro Health coronavirus hotline is available 24/7 by calling 877-888-6647. Call the hotline before seeking in-person care. More information from OH can be found here.

For the latest information and data on COVID-19 in Kentucky visit kycovid19.ky.gov or dial the Kentucky state hotline at 800-722-5725.

For the latest health guidelines and resources from the CDC, visit their website here.

March 17, 2020 | 12:09 am

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