Name: Hawaii’s coronavirus testing capability to be cut in half after mainland company reduces supplies
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Hawaii’s coronavirus testing capability to be cut in half after mainland company reduces supplies

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One of Hawaii’s largest COVID-19 testing laboratories has been cut off from its mainland supplier of chemicals needed to continue to run tests locally due to a surge in coronavirus cases across the country.That means the state’s testing capacity has been cut in half to about 2,500 tests per day from 5,000, said Dr. Scott Miscovich, who is leading broad testing efforts across the islands.He informed Honolulu City Council members today that Diagnostic Laboratory Services will no longer receive reagents and other supplies from Roche Diagnostics, one of the largest manufacturers of equipment and supplies for COVID-19 testing.&gt;&gt; RELATED:The company has been forced to direct their supplies to hospitals in states where the intensive care units are being overrun, he said. States such as Arizona, Florida and Texas are recording thousands of new daily cases, pushing coronavirus infections past 3 million in the United States.“With the surge on the mainland they’re steering towards their big customers … these massive health systems,” Miscovich said. “Roche basically just cut them off. We just had our testing capabilities cut in half.”DLS president Mark Wasielewski said he is “personally devastated that we cannot help with more testing as the demand and needs are rising in our state” as major labs on the mainland are “all in need of the same supplies.”“As a result, DLS’ capacity for COVID testing has been reduced from 800 tests per day to 250 tests per day and will only be locally testing priority clinical testing in the immediate future on island,” he said. “Non-priority testing will be sent to mainland laboratories that may take up to 10 days to perform tests. We are fortifying our other COVID testing platforms and are looking into new platforms to bring in-house to boost our testing capabilities as quickly as possible.”DLS is doing “all it can to increase our reagent supply” to meet the demand of the community, he added.“If reagents can be supplied to our capacity, DLS would be able to perform 2,000 tests per day based on the equipment our company currently has in Hawaii,” he said.The setback comes as the state prepares to lift quarantine restrictions on trans-Pacific tourists who test negative for COVID-19 and as public schools prepare to open to thousands of students in August. Gov. David Ige is meeting with the county mayors today to discuss whether or not to proceed with a modified quarantine process for out-of-state travelers on Aug. 1.The remaining labs, including Clinical Labs of Hawaii, are working together to address the state’s testing needs, especially the most critical, hospitalized patients, Miscovich said.“We don’t want to scare the public. We still are able to address our testing needs currently in the state and plans are being made to increase our capacity,” he said. “Unfortunately, this may cause the return of the results to be multiple days instead of the 24-hour turnaround.”to see our full coverage of the coronavirus outbreak. your coronavirus news tip.Comments (99)By participating in online discussions you acknowledge that you have agreed to the . An insightful discussion of ideas and viewpoints is encouraged, but comments must be civil and in good taste, with no personal attacks. If your comments are inappropriate, you may be banned from posting. Report comments if you believe they do not follow our .Having trouble with comments? .Subscriber FavoritesMore Coronavirus OutbreakOur Privacy Policy has been updated. By continuing to use our site, you are acknowledging and agreeing to our updated and our .

One of Hawaii’s largest COVID-19 testing laboratories has been cut off from its mainland supplier of chemicals needed to continue to run tests locally due to a surge in coronavirus cases across the country.That means the state’s testing capacity has been cut in half to about 2,500 tests per day from 5,000, said Dr. Scott Miscovich, who is leading broad testing efforts across the islands.He informed Honolulu City Council members today that Diagnostic Laboratory Services will no longer receive reagents and other supplies from Roche Diagnostics, one of the largest manufacturers of equipment...

Hawaii’s coronavirus testing capability to be cut in half after mainland company reduces supplies

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