State officials look to prioritize coronavirus testing kits

Department of Health Services Secretary-designee Andrea Palm said they’re prioritizing COVID-19 testing due to a rapid increase in the number of specimens received by the state lab and a pending shortage of ingredients needed for the test.

“This prioritization will help us better protect our healthcare workers and other patients in healthcare facilities,” Palm told reporters Tuesday.

Dr. Ryan Westergaard, chief medical officer of the Bureau of Communicable Diseases, said those without symptoms, or symptoms similar to the common cold, shouldn’t get tested.

He said they want to prioritize hospitalized patients, patients who are at high risk, and those in communal settings like long-term care facilities.

Dr. Allen Bateman, assistant director of the Communicable Disease Division at the Wisconsin State Laboratory of Hygiene, said they’ve scaled up testing to 400 specimens a day, seven days a week.

He said the number of specimens they’ve received Monday and Tuesday has been “substantially higher” than that mark.

“We have a decent number of supplies currently, but the supply chain right now is fragile because so many other labs nationwide are bringing on and scaling up this testing,” he said. “This is a nationwide issue, not just Wisconsin.”

Bateman said they’ve been in contact with clinical laboratories in hospitals to bring up statewide capacity.

The Milwaukee Health Department can do tests, and health officials last week named two other national lab companies – Quest and LabCorp – that are running tests.

DHS officials said Monday that Froedtert Health and Children’s Wisconsin can process tests internally.

Children’s spokeswoman Ashley Cobert emphasized that they are not a public testing location. While they can process tests, they’re limited to testing and processing those for children at the hospital whose providers determine they’ve met criteria.

Froedtert spokesman Steve Schooff said they have a process in place “throughout our health network to screen for, test, isolate and care for individuals with COVID-19.”

Schooff said testing is available at the Wisconsin Diagnostic Labs for patients with a Froedtert & the Medical College of Wisconsin provider’s recommendation.

“We continue to encourage individuals that are seeking a COVID-19 test to call their healthcare provider or local health department,” he said in an email.

Last Friday, MCW CEO Dr. John Raymond said that they were waiting approval from the Food and Drug Administration to be a testing site.

“We have a laboratory partnership with Froedtert called Wisconsin Diagnostic Laboratories, and our Department of Pathology has the capacity to do COVID testing,” he said Friday. “We’re able to do 200 a day and can ramp up to 300 a day, but we’re waiting FDA approval to be a testing site. And that may not happen for another 10 days or so.”

An MCW spokeswoman did not return requests for comment by the newsletter’s Wednesday deadline on whether they’ve received that approval.

Mayo Clinic Health System is sending its specimens to Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn. for processing. Capacity for that lab is around 200 to 300 tests a day, according to a statement released by the provider last week.

Gov. Tony Evers has also ordered the Wisconsin State Patrol to help with delivering COVID-19 test kits and samples to designated labs.

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