Increased Covid-19 testing numbers are causing delays in results

EL PASO, Texas -- Five days. That's how long one El Paso family had to wait for their Covid-19 test results.

Terry Speicher told ABC-7 his Mom started feeling sick on Dec. 31st, 2021 so they got her tested at the Don Haskins Rec Center testing site. At the same time he and his dad also tested.

Despite being told they would get their results within 48 hours, they didn't get them until the morning Jan. 5, 2022 - five days later. That after numerous phone calls to the testing site, the mayor and the public health department.

"My mom's symptoms went away she felt better, so we didn't think anything," Speicher said. "Then we got her results and she'd tested positive so we have all these days now where we didn't think and had no reason to think that we were positive for Covid and we could have exposed people and not known it, so that was a big deal." 

Exova - the lab that processes the testing at any of the city sites told ABC-7 the main reason for the delayed processing time is due to the increase in tests.

Right now they say they're regularly hitting 4,000 tests per day. Compare that 1,700 per day during the Delta surge and 500 tests per day prior to that.

"Five days, it's disappointing," Speicher said.

Exova says their processing time is closer to 3-4 days right now compared to the usual 24-48 hour turnaround El Pasoans have come accustomed to.

They anticipate being able to get back to a quicker turnaround time for results by the end of this coming weekend.

If you're having issues in getting your results you're encouraged to call 1-877-230-1518 or email inquiry@exovadx.com