Finding a COVID-19 test isn’t the challenge - but getting a quick result is

REVERE, Mass. — There wasn’t much of a line outside the new Suffolk Downs testing site in Revere, but Dora Escobar was still turned away.

“I registered but I didn’t make an appointment,” Escobar said.

Escobar drove from Everett with her mother to get her tested for COVID-19, and although she registered online to get a test, she forgot to make an appointment.

“A little frustrating because I’m not going to be able to do it. We have to come back,” Escobar said.

It seems to be easier than ever to get a coronavirus test. There are more than 260 testing sites throughout central and eastern Massachusetts, according to state data from Oct. 20.

But getting a quick result can be the real challenge.

“I hear about delays about getting tested. I don’t hear much about not being able to get a test,” said Dr. Paul Sax, clinical director of the Division of Infectious Diseases, Brigham and Women’s Hospital.

According to the Dept. of Public Health, more than 2.6 million people have been tested in Massachusetts since the start of the pandemic.

But the results from a diagnostic PCR test, generally considered to be the most reliable method to detect coronavirus in someone, can vary from 24 hours to more than a week.

“We’ve improved a lot over the last several months,” Dr. Sax said. “Right now a lot of the tests still require a specialized machine in a laboratory to do the interpretation. When you have that, you need to have a testing site, you need to have a hospital lab or a special lab.”

Boston 25 previously reported on problems at a CVS drive-thru in Whitman. At least two people swabbed at that testing site in October had to wait 10 days or more for their results.

CVS blamed the delay on a lab processing issue.

Most people outside the testing site in Revere said they’ve waited three or four days to find out if they were positive or negative.

“If you aren’t getting the results for a few days, I think it’s just--what do you do? Just stay at home until you know?” Ani Khatchadouriam said.

Khatchadouriam said her husband was tested on a Saturday over the summer, and didn’t find out he was negative until Tuesday.

“We just need the turn-around I think to be a little bit quicker,” she said.

Ismael Cardona is a flight attendant who splits his time living in Puerto Rico and Revere.

“It’s actually easier [to get tested] up here,” Cardona said. “I was trying to figure out where to go and I went online [yesterday] and here I am today.”

Although the state has administered more than 5.8 million tests since the start of the pandemic, Dr. Sax said it’s still not clear if Massachusetts is prepared for a second surge of the virus this fall and winter.

“Do we have enough tests for the community? That’s very much an open question. I’m sure you’ve seen the long lines in various states as they experience surges. You would hate to go through the same thing like that again in Massachusetts,” Dr. Sax said.

The Massachusetts Emergency Management Agency created an interactive to help residents find testing sites near them.

MIDDLESEX- 67 testing locations (1 site per every 24,055 residents*)
WORCESTER- 26 (1 for 31,947 residents)
SUFFOLK- 40 (1 for 20,097 residents)
ESSEX- 34 (1 for 206 residents)
NORFOLK- 31 (1 for residents 22,799)
BRISTOL- 28 (1 for 20,186 residents)
PLYMOUTH- 24 (1 for 21,716 residents)
BARNSTABLE- 11 (1 for 19,362 residents)

*according to Oct. 20 data from Mass. Dept. of Public Health

“It would be better if we could actually have more point-of-care testing,” Dr. Sax said. “Right now a lot of the tests still require a specialized machine in a laboratory to do the interpretation. When you have that, you need to have a testing site, you need to have a hospital lab or a special lab.”

Dr. Sax said the turning point in the pandemic will be when rapid at-home tests are widely available.

“Where people can test themselves like a pregnancy test and that would enable us to really stop the community transmission of COVID-19 from people without symptoms,” he said.

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