Coronavirus testing kits are set to arrive in Ohio in a few days and should be ready to test Ohioans for coronavirus, also called COVID-19, by next week.
The current process is for hospitals to send potential coronavirus samples to the Ohio Department of Health (ODH), which then sends the samples to one of two out-of-state labs run by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
That process takes five to seven days.
With in-state testing, ODH Spokeswoman Melanie Amato said the process will be shortened to 24-48 hours 鈥� a critical time frame for preventing the spread of the virus and treating the patient.
鈥淲e have never been a priority state due to the fact that we don鈥檛 have an airport that these travelers were coming in,鈥� Amato said. 鈥淲e weren鈥檛 a high priority to get this testing kits to begin with.鈥�
The CDC is only sending testing kits to labs run by state health departments right now, not those run by local hospitals or other entities, Amato said.
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