Anxious patients deal with delays while awaiting coronavirus testing results
TAMPA, Fla. - These are anxious times for all Americans, but the level of anxiety is even higher for patients still waiting to learn whether or not they have COVID-19.
Andre Feith and his wife were one of the first to go through one of BayCare's drive-through testing sites. They have been in self-quarantine since returning from their cruise around the world in mid-March.
Feith said he was suffering from cold symptoms, but it took 15 days for the couple to get their results that they tested negative.
He said watching Gov. Ron DeSantis say they can get test results within five minutes is hard to believe considering his situation.
"I think now the anxiety level is going to increase because of the increase in the amount of infections and really not knowing," Feith said.
But BayCare officials said there is a new FDA-approved testing procedure from a company named Abbot, which can get "positive" results back in five minutes or "negative" results in 15 minutes.
Dr. Nishant Anand, the chief medical officer for BayCare Health, said he understands the growing frustration of patients.
“I know it’s very frustrating to wait on the results. Just know that it is getting better and I know it can’t come soon enough to get results," Anand said. "But we do hope to be able to provide the results as soon as we can."
BayCare said they should have the new testing procedure in place in the next couple of weeks.