County Health Officer Talks Stretch of No New Cases, Increasing Testing Capacity

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Humboldt County, Ca. (KIEM) — The North Coast saw a span of 6 days with no new Covid-19 cases, leaving some wondering why.

Dr. Frankovich credits the handful of cases early on that had multiple contacts, and that’s one reason we saw a rapid increase. Those contact investigations are essential in determining how the virus is spreading in the community.

As far as testing, the Public Health lab is working on increasing its capacity. Right now, they have a piece of equipment called the gene expert that once they get the needed materials, lab staff would be able to use it to conduct tests.

The goal would be to have a mix of tests using the newer equipment and what they are already using, which would ultimately increase how many samples they can run each day. Up to 160 samples a day could be processed.

Public Health is in talks to receive a new, point of care test. This would be set up at St. Joseph’s Hospital in Eureka, and it would allow for tests to be conducted on site with a turnaround time of about 15 minutes.