Long wait times seen at testing sites as coronavirus cases continue to rise

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    West Haven, CT (WFSB) — As cases of the coronavirus continue to rise, aggressive testing continues.

However, while the demand for testing increases, Channel 3 learned that in some instances, the state can’t keep up.

Rentschler Field in November is normally home to University of Connecticut football, but this year, the East Hartford venue is home to coronavirus testing Monday through Friday.

People don’t need a doctor’s note or an appointment, which is one of the ways the state has been trying to keep up with the demand.

“I’ve been displaying some minor symptoms for the past few days,” said Tom Picarelli.

Picarelli doesn’t know if his symptoms are just a cold or coronavirus, so like many people, his family and his employer encouraged him to get tested. The first place he tried was appointment only and the earliest availability was on Friday.

His second stop was a Southington walk-in clinic that had long wait times.

“It told me the wait time was 7 hours, which seemed a little inaccurate,” Picarelli said.

So, Picarelli settled on Midstate Hospital’s drive-thru testing.

“I sat in my car for all of it, I never had to get out of my car. Total time from when I first got in line to when I drove away was maybe 2 and half hours at the most,” Picarelli said.

As more people want to get tested, Picarelli’ s experience is becoming the norm in Connecticut.

“We have seen a surge over the last few days and have seen some lines at some testing sites,” said Josh Geballe, Chief Operating Officer.

The state reported performing roughly 200,000 tests per week and Connecticut is one of the top five in the country for testing per capita. To be able to handle the demand, the state added 30 new testing sites. There are now more than 200 statewide.

“The bottleneck is really in sample collection, not the laboratory. We have a lot of laboratory capacity,” Geballe said.

That means the results are still coming back within 48 hours. The state is also pumping more money into testing sites and even offering ground support.

“We’re deploying 50 National Guard members to help deal with some short-term staffing crunches in a couple of sites,” Geballe said.

Another new element in stopping the spread is a contact tracing feature on smartphones. People may have received an alert on Thursday where they can sign up in the setting and the phone will alert people anytime the device has come within six feet of another person with the coronavirus.

“The only way it works is if people are willing to use it,” said Gov. Ned Lamont.

Doctors saidy the next two or three months will be tough for the entire country, with the peak expected to happen in January.

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