Washington firefighters who responded to nursing home face longer quarantine as bottlenecks delay testing

Several firefighters who responded to a nursing home in Washington state that’s at the epicenter of the US outbreak will have to be in quarantine longer because lab bottlenecks are delaying test results.

Firefighters who responded to calls from the Life Care Center in Kirkland were swabbed for testing samples that were sent to the state testing lab — but there was such a bottleneck at the lab that at least seven samples expired, a first responder familiar with the situation told CNN.

“The response has been putrid,” the first responder told CNN. “While we keep hearing about increased testing availability and lifting restrictions on who can be tested, none of that is making a difference when the tests can’t be processed in a timely manner.”

Testing has been expedited for nine police officers and firefighters, and new tests were arranged within an hour of finding out the news regarding the viability of the samples, according to Kellie Stickney, communications manager for the city of Kirkland.

“Tests for firefighters, police officers, husbands, wives and children are being left to expire while we know the disease is spreading,” the source told CNN. “This is a matter of public safety and the response is failing. Availability of tests is not equaling results.”

The failure of the government to provide adequate testing and results for employees and first responders at one of the first and worst clusters in the United States raises questions about how prepared the US will be for the epidemic as it continues to spread and impact exponentially more individuals.

Washington health officials said Tuesday that of the 22 deaths in King County, 19 are associated with the Life Care Center. The facility reported 55 patients have the virus — 34 in the hospital and 21 inside the facility.

The Life Care Center had 120 residents less than a month ago.

After a first responder told CNN that Life Care had said none of its employees had been tested, Life Care said Tuesday that employees are now being tested, and 30 have been tested so far at off-site locations.

The facility said testing is ongoing, and they believe they have enough resources to test all 180 employees, 64 of whom are showing symptoms of the virus.

Asked Monday why they don’t have test kits for employees, Life Care Center spokesman Tim Killian said, “I don’t have that answer.”

“We’ve been asking the various government agencies that have been supplying us with test kits,” Killian said. “We would like more kits to be able to test employees. That’s what we continue to ask.”

First responders have also said that Life Care Center was understaffed with inadequate gear while grappling with the outbreak last week. Only three staffers reported to serve around 90 residents between March 3 and 4, one responder familiar with the situation told CNN.

King County Public Health and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have since sent personnel to provide assistance.

Killian told CNN on Monday that the first responder “did not see the full extent of what was happening within the facility in the middle of the night.”

“A large number of our employees would have been in rooms treating and taking care of patients and they wouldn’t have been immediately visible to anybody who walks in,” Killian said.

First responders were also concerned that staff members weren’t wearing appropriate protective equipment. Responders said they arrived at the Life Care Center to find employees using a type of mask that firefighters have been told not use because they can disperse more particulate into the air.

The center is now conducting a “deep clean,” Killian said Tuesday.

Washington state has at least 282 Covid-19 cases, including 24 deaths, the most of any US state.