TULSA, Okla. — When Dwight Divelbiss traveled out of state last week, he says he was oblivious on what to do to protect yourself from coronavirus.

"My daughter's telling me don't touch my face and I had done that, rubbing my eyes," DivelBiss said.

Not only did he fly, he flew to Washington state, which has over 1,000 cases of coronavirus and 52 deaths.

Divelbiss says he has chronic respiratory issues and when he returned to Tulsa, he developed symptoms common with coronavirus.

So, he did what health officials have been instructing people to do, he called his primary care physician.

“When I told them I had just come back from Seattle and I was having some symptoms, they did not want me to come in," said Divelbiss. "They told me to call the Tulsa Health Department and the Oklahoma Health Department."

Divelbiss says he is not getting answers or the medical attention he believes he needs.

An Atlanta based company is making strides to ease Divelbliss' and others concerned about being tested.

Life Hope Labs developed an in-home test kit. It was created with recommendations from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

But before you can order the test kit, you must have a recommendation from your doctor to be tested.

For people without a doctor, Life Hope has teamed with a Georgia-based medical center to provide virtual appointments for screenings.

The kits cost $150 and results are known within 24 hours of the lab receiving a sample.

The chief operating officer for Life Hope Labs, Tim Allen, says his company is trying to fill a need for people while many states are short on test kits."

"We were just trying to provide a service to people that wanted to get tested," Allen said.

Allen says currently, Life Hope can send out 7,500 test kits and will have 5,000 more in within the next week.

Life Hope Labs is College of American Pathologist certified and accredited by the Clinical Laboratory Improvement Amendments.

The in home test kit provided by Life Hope is not yet approved by the Food and Drug Administration because it was only developed two weeks ago.

Life Hope completed its first test last week and Allen says the demand has been high.

Life Hope Labs says the kits are not just for residents of Georgia, they can be shipped nationwide.

Stay in touch with us anytime, anywhere.

Download our free app for Apple and Android and Kindle devices.

Sign up for newsletters emailed to your inbox. Select from these options: Breaking News, Severe Weather, School Closings, Daily Headlines and Daily Forecasts.

Follow us on Twitter

Like us on Facebook

