SC struggles to keep up with COVID testing demand amid record-breaking omicron surge
The line of vehicles queuing for COVID-19 tests along Bull Street in Columbia has stretched for blocks in the days since the Christmas holiday, as residents seek confirmation of their coronavirus status before returning to school or work amid the latest crush in cases.
Visitors to the Bull Street site, and other free public testing locations, report waiting as long as four hours for tests and as many as five days and counting for results.
Peter Lehman, 47, of Columbia, said Tuesday that he and his family spent more than two hours in line last week at the Bull Street site, located in the state health department’s parking lot, and were still awaiting results. They hadn’t been symptomatic when they were tested, but he, his wife and his daughter have since developed cold-like symptoms.
It might just be allergies, he said. But it could be COVID-19.
As a result, Lehman’s been reluctant to go out in public and said the family was forced to delay a holiday celebration with his mother because of their uncertain status.
“During this pandemic, anything is alarming when you start to feel a little different. We’re all on pins and needles right now,” he said. “That’s why the wait has been really irritating this time, just not knowing.”
Ron Aiken, a spokesman for the South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control, acknowledged the long wait times and turnaround delays at public testing locations and said the agency was “actively working with our own sites, our contractors and our provider partners to assist in reducing these times.”
The Bull Street location, in particular, has experienced a “significant, unprecedented increase in demand” since Christmas and may end up having to be relocated to prevent further traffic backups, he said.
The agency has not released further details about its proposed relocation of the Bull Street site, but said those would be forthcoming.
Reports of long wait times, delayed results
The number of people seeking COVID-19 testing has surged in recent weeks following the emergence of the highly transmissible omicron variant, which now makes up an estimated 95% of coronavirus cases nationwide, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Omicron’s rapid spread has triggered an unparalleled explosion of cases in South Carolina and across the country that has seen the state and the nation smash previous daily and weekly highs for cases.
Aiken said that for the time being residents should expect to wait between one and two hours at testing locations, with higher wait times possible at some locations, and may not get their results for at least a few days.
“DHEC’s public health lab and our partners continue to strive for the 72-hour turnaround, but they also have been hit hard by this surge in cases unlike anything we’ve seen before,” he said. “As with other health care providers, operations in laboratories are impacted by the isolation and quarantine of staff. This comes at the same time sample volume has increased many fold.”
The agency’s coronavirus call center, which residents are directed to call if their results are delayed, has been “flooded with calls” since the omicron surge began, Aiken said.
“They continue to work as hard as possible to respond as quickly as possible,” he said, “but the call and email volume is in the hundreds, if not thousands, per day.”
One of those inquiring residents has been Joshua McLawhorn, of Lexington.
McLawhorn, his wife and stepdaughter got tested Thursday morning at the Lexington County Health Department site on South Lake Drive and as of Tuesday afternoon had not received their results.
“We called and emailed after 72 hours. We have left messages,” he said, adding that on Monday the hotline’s voicemail box appeared to be full.
McLawhorn said he and his wife got tested again Monday at Lexington Medical Center’s site as a backup, but haven’t heard back on those results either. They haven’t been able to find any stores with at-home COVID-19 tests in stock and didn’t want to risk standing in a long line at the local urgent care center for fear they would infect others.
“We still have no idea what we have,” he said Tuesday.
While long testing waits and delayed results are widespread, not all residents reported negative experiences.
Maudra Brown, of Cayce, said her family visited DHEC’s Devine Street site on two separate occasions recently and waited only 20 to 30 minutes each time. Brown’s husband got his results back in under 72 hours, but she and her kids waited about four days, she said.
Brown credited her family’s relatively smooth experience to planning and setting realistic expectations. As a public health professional, she said she knows how understaffed and overburdened the industry is right now.
“We should all give each other some grace,” she said.
Many who spoke to The State about their recent COVID-19 testing experiences sympathized with state health officials and testing contractors working under challenging conditions, but some also questioned their preparation for the surge.
Charleston resident Brady Quirk-Garvan, who waited more than two hours Sunday at the Medical University of South Carolina’s Charleston International Airport testing site, urged increased testing capacity and expanded testing hours.
The airport site he visited Sunday was one of just two free public testing sites open in the entire county that day, according to DHEC’s COVID-19 test locator. Charleston County doesn’t have a single public testing site open on Saturdays.
“Coming off a holiday there will be more testing just as people return to work,” Quirk-Garvan said. “We’ve known the surge was anticipated. It’s ridiculous that there weren’t more sites open.”
DHEC looks to ramp up testing
As of Tuesday, 320 testing sites were open throughout South Carolina, 124 of which were DHEC sites.
The agency did not immediately respond to questions about how many testing locations were available during past COVID-19 waves or whether it did anything to bolster testing capacity in advance of the current surge, but said it was working now to bring on more vendors.
“We are constantly monitoring and adapting to demand in order to best serve the public, including emergency solicitations for new vendors to handle the increased testing load,” Aiken said. “We will continue as an agency to do our best to respond to this surge.”
He said DHEC had ordered nearly 500,000 rapid antigen tests it plans to distribute in communities in the coming days and weeks, but did not provide details on how or when those tests would be allocated.
The White House last month said it planned to open additional federal testing sites across the country and ship 500 million rapid COVID-19 tests to Americans free of charge starting in January. As of Tuesday, however, South Carolina health officials were still awaiting word on how the process would work.
“While basic information on the type of available assistance has been provided, additional details on logistical considerations, site selection, and site management still is forthcoming,” Aiken said. “DHEC will clearly communicate new testing availability to the public as soon as sites come online.”
Gov. Henry McMaster on Wednesday acknowledged the long lines at some testing sites, but said he was pleased that so many people were seeking out tests
“That’s a good thing,” he said.
Reporter Joseph Bustos contributed to this report.
This story was originally published January 5, 2022 at 11:11 AM.