'Rapid' COVID-19 Testing Finally Arrives in the Central Valley. Community Medical Already Processing Hundreds a Day.

There’s been nothing rapid about getting rapid tests for COVID-19. That’s changing – rapidly.
Central Valley hospitals are finally starting to receive the testing supplies they need to get results quickly. Several are using a system from Silicon Valley-based Cepheid that promises results in about 45 minutes.
“Last week, we were able to process our first COVID-19 tests and can now process about 280 per day for in-patients,” said Community Medical Centers spokesperson Mary Lisa Russell in an email.

“When we receive our equipment order in full-in about 3-6 weeks-we can accommodate up to 2,000 tests per day. This assumes that reagents are readily available,” Russell said.
Other local health care providers are expecting to receive their supplies this week.

Test Offers Results in 45 Minutes

CapRadio reports, “Their (Cepheid’s) technology uses cartridges that are compatible with a popular piece of testing equipment in California, called the GeneXpert, which the company also produces. Many labs and hospitals already have a GeneXpert and use it to test for diseases including tuberculosis.”
According to a press release from Cepheid, ““(We) currently have nearly 5,000 GeneXpert® Systems in the US capable of point-of-care testing and for use in hospitals,” said compay president Warren Kocmond. “Our automated systems do not require users to have specialty training to perform testing — they are capable of running 24/7, with many systems already doing so today.”

Saint Agnes Hospital Expecting Delivery

Saint Agnes Medical Center in Fresno is also equipped with Cepheid’s GeneXpert testing system and is expecting an imminent delivery of cartridges.
“The test kits are on schedule to come today,” said corporate communications director Kelley Sanchez, in an email message.
“A validation has to be completed before we can start testing, so depending on how late they arrive today, we would be up and running either tomorrow or Wednesday,” Sanchez said. “We will be using the Cepheid GenXpert analyzer which we currently use for flu testing. We will be adding the Covid-19 test kit to this analyzer.”
“Results should be turned around within an hour,” she noted.

Related Story: Frustrated Newsom Calls on Task Force to Fix Coronavirus Test Shortfall

Madera Community Hospital Order in Process

During a teleconference with reporters last week, Madera Community Hospital’s CEO answered GV Wire’s question about whether they’d heard anything from Cepheid about getting cartridges for their test analyzer . “Yes,” was the short answer.

“We’re excited about the idea that we might get those we ordered — enough to do 240 tests,” said hospital CEO Karen Paolinelli.  She said she was just told the hospital should expect to receive its order later this week.
She added that Madera County has had a shortage of testing so the news is welcome. They’ll also share resources with other hospitals such as Saint Agnes, and Community Medical Centers, Paolinelli added.

Q&A With Kaweah Delta Medical Center Director of Community Engagement Deborah Volosin

GV Wire: What COVID-19 Testing Capabilities do you currently have?

We currently have three molecular platforms in use at our medical center.  This includes the BD Max, Abbott ID Now, and BioFire.

Do you have a way to test for coronavirus with some bigger machine at a faster pace?

Like many other hospitals, we are actively attempting to acquire test reagents which are in very short supply.  We have promising developments in the works for validation and implementation on at least two of our analyzers.

Are you doing anything with regards to trials to come up with a vaccine or some other therapy for coronavirus?