Asymptomatic coronavirus testing suspended as lab is overwhelmed

Flathead Community Health Centers has suspended asymptomatic testing for coronavirus in the Flathead Valley until further notice.

That includes testing in Columbia Falls.

Director Mary Sterhan explained that the company completing the testing, Quest Diagnostics, told the state last week that it would be unable to get results back in a timely manner.

People who were tested as long as 12 days ago still haven’t received test results, which reduces its effectiveness.

Sterhan said the centers were testing about 450 to 500 people a week. To date, no one has tested positive from the asymptomatic testing done in the county, she noted. Though people in other parts of the state have.

Asymptomatic testing means people have no symptoms. It’s designed for frontline workers to determine whether the virus is present in the community. A “snapshot” if you will. While designed for frontline employees, the tests were open to anyone who wanted one. Columbia Falls saw about 50 people per day.

The hope is another testing lab can be found in the coming weeks, or Quest will be able to boost its capacity. Sterhan said the center plans to still do asymptomatic testing for larger employers, such as workers from Glacier National Park, who see a lot of people everyday. Those tests will be handled by the state lab. Workers in nursing homes, assisted living centers and tribal communities and gateway communities to national parks are the top priority.

People with symptoms are urged to go to a regular testing clinic and make an appointment. The hospitals have testing clinics across the valley for folks with symptoms. Locally, there’s one in West Glacier and one at the Professional Center in Columbia Falls.

As of Monday, Flathead County had 55 active cases and statewide there were 1,248 active cases with 48 people hospitalized. Thirty-nine people have died since the outbreak in March.

Flathead County added 12 new cases on July 19 alone.

Cases have skyrocketed across the country as states reopened. In the past week the U.S. added more than 458,000 cases. Montana is with the rest of the country’s upward trend, adding 731 cases in the past seven days as of Monday.

The good news is of the 2,621 cases that have been confirmed since the pandemic began, 1,334 are considered recovered.