VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. (WAVY) — At ARCpoint Labs in Virginia Beach, there’s a steady flow of customers who want answers right away about whether they have the potentially deadly coronavirus.
This lab provides same-day results for P.C.R., or polymerase chain reaction testing, but on Friday the first available appointment is Wednesday morning.
The president of the lab, Rudy Patel, apologized to the public. On Thursday his staff of seven was unable to answer 300 phone calls and emails from people seeking same-day results.
“We are way beyond our capacity right now; please bear with us we will get there,” said Patel
Many of his patients are essential workers who need answers as soon as possible in efforts to avoid potentially spreading the virus to others on the job. Maritime, other essential workers, and high-risk patients are moved to the front of the line. The cost is $225 — out of pocket — for same-day results. ARCpoint is now working to double or triple its workforce.
“Right now they are putting in 15 hours a day — all hands on deck all day long,” Patel said.
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It will be a few more weeks before antigen testing with faster results is available at the Virginia Beach lab and it may come at a lower price. It will come too late for Moustapha Mounni, who is trying to get back to his family in Morocco. The airline that will take him home requires negative results from two different tests. He doesn’t speak English; a relative spoke on his behalf.
“So, unfortunately, it’s very expensive, it’s $375 for the two tests, but we have no choice, if we go to the public hospitals it takes 6-8 days to get results,” said his son-in-law Rachid Ezghari.
Testing could become more complicated over the next few days across the region. A spokesperson for Sentara confirms asymptomatic patients — people with no symptoms — who enter emergency rooms will not be given a COVID-19 test.
In the next few weeks, faster and perhaps cheaper antigen testing, which screens for certain proteins in nose and throat secretions, will be available at ARCpoint in Virginia Beach. Patel said once the expanded staff is in place, he plans to offer testing seven days a week.
Sentara also sent WAVY a statement in response to our inquiry.
“Sentara emergency departments are currently testing patients who present with symptoms of COVID-19 or meet screening criteria determined by Virginia and North Carolina Health Departments. We encourage people who believe they have been exposed to COVID-19 but are without symptoms to isolate at home, monitor their health, and seek testing if or when they develop symptoms. People can use the self-screening tool on www.sentara.com or the COVID-19 chatbot on the Sentara app to decide how to proceed.”
