KANSAS CITY, Mo. — As more coronavirus testing becomes available, the wait time for results is getting longer for some people.
The Kansas City, Missouri, Health Department confirmed to 41 Action News that there is a backlog in getting test results.
Dr. Lee Norman, secretary of the Kansas Department of Health and Environment, said testing continues to increase in Kansas, which may be affecting the ability of reference labs to turn around samples in a timely manner.
"We've been hearing about longer wait times for test results in the commercial labs," Norman said. "We encourage individuals waiting for test results to continue following the directions of their health care providers; our state lab turnaround continues to be about 24 hours after receipt of the sample at the state lab."
Rachael Liesman, director of microbiology for the University of Kansas Health System, explained why the lag in result time ultimately affects the success of contact tracing.
"For contact tracing to be maximally successful, you need that result in 24, 48, maybe 72 hours," Liesman said. "It's so important that we continue to support our testing infrastructure."
Kansas City resident Lauren Flanegin said she received a test July 2 from the Clay County Health Department after a co-worker tested positive, and she still hasn't gotten her results.
"I'm assuming no news is good news, but I don't know that for sure," Flanegin said.
Flanegin said she does not have any of the classic symptoms, expect a scratchy through, which she believes is due to allergies. She said it would still be nice to have the peace of mind and is considering calling the health department to check in on her results.
"I'm sure they're inundated with phone calls, but it just would be nice to know either way," Flanegin said.
Marc Larsen, operations chair for COVID-19 for Saint Luke's Health System, said the system is not experiencing a test result backlog problem because its tests for patients before procedures are done in-house versus through a lab.
"We know that having a rapid turnaround of the test is really important so we don't have to delay some of these cases that have already been delayed for several months," Larsen said.
