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>> BETWEEN THE STATE LAB AND TRI CORE LABS ABOUT 500 CORNOAVIRIUS SAMPLES TAKEN FROM PEOPLE IN THESE LINES CAN BE TESTED EVERY DAY. >> AS FOR NOW THERE ARE BACKLOGGED TESTS AND WHEN YOU HAVE BACKLOG TESTS YOU HAVE TO PRIORITIZE THEM. REPORTER: DOCTOR JASON MITCHELL IS THE CHIEF MEDICAL OFFICER, FOR PRESBYTERIAN HOSPITAL. >> FOLKS THAT ARE WAITING AT HOME FOR TESTS THAT ARE NOT ACUTELY ILL WOULD NOT NEED THE TEST EXPEDITED VERSUS SOMEONE WHO IS IN THE HOSPITAL AND IS SEVERELY ILL AND WE WOULD NEED TO KNOW RIGHT AWAY. DOUG: PRESBYTERIAN OPENED THIS DRIVE THROUGH TEST SITE SUNDAY GATHERING ABOUT 1,000 SAMPLES IN TWO DAYS. BUT THEY ARE SENDING THOSE HERE TO TRICORE LABS, WHICH CAN HANDLE ABOUT 300 A DAY. THEN THERE ARE THESE SITES THREE OF THEM IN THE ALBUQUERQUE AREA, OPERATED BY OPTUM TAKING ABOUT 200 SAMPLES EVERY FIVE HOURS. THEY TOO ARE SENDING THEIR TESTS TO TRI CORE, AND ANOTHER SMALLER LAB. >> THE RESULTS IN GENERAL, THEY ARE TAKING BETWEEN 24 TO 72 HOURS TO HAVE AN ANSWER FOR PATIENTS. ABOUT A POTENTIAL DIAGNOSIS. DOUG: DR. RYAN TYNER IS THE CHIEF MEDICAL OFFICER FOR OPTUM. HE SAYS HIS CONCERN IS HAVING ENOUGH SUPPLIES TO TEST EVERYONE WHO IS LINING UP TO GET >> WE ONE. HAVE SEEN A LARGE VOLUME OF PATIENTS AND WE WANT TO ASK FOR IS PATIENCE AND SOME GRACE IN TERMS OF HOW LONG IT TAKES TO GET OUR COMMUNITY MOVING THROUGH DOUG: DR. MITCHELL SAYS TRI CORE IS DEVELOPING NEW TECHNIQUES TO TEST THE KIDS FASTER, BUT HE IS NOT CONCERNED THE BACKLOG WILL CAUSE A LARGE DELA

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It might take a while for you to find out if you have the Coronavirus.State officials acknowledged to Target 7 that there is a backlog of samples taken from potential coronavirus patients that are waiting to be tested.The backlog is due in part to five drive-thru testing locations that opened in the Albuquerque area.There are two labs that can do up to 600 tests a day, but samples are being collected from thousands.“We expect to catch up within a few days,” Department of Health spokesman David Morgan said in an email. “In addition to possibly establishing 24-hour shifts, we are looking at purchasing technology that would dramatically raise our testing capacity.”In response, health care providers Presbyterian and Optum have started prioritizing the tests.“As for now there are backlogged tests and when you have backlog tests you have to prioritize them,” said Dr. Jason Mitchell, chief medical officer at Presbyterian. “Folks that are waiting at home for tests that are not acutely ill would not need the test expedited versus someone who is in the hospital and is severely ill and we would need to know right away,” Presbyterian has been running a drive-thru testing center since Sunday and in the first two days they collected about 1,000 tests. Over the weekend, Lovelace opened up a testing center downtown and collected about 860 samples in two days before shutting down due to lack of supplies.Optum has opened three testing sites in Rio Rancho, the Journal Center and off Tramway in the Foothills. They are conducting about 200 tests every five hours among the three locations.That means up to 1,000 samples are being collected a day just from the testing sites. That doesn’t include doctors' officers, emergency rooms and urgent care centers that might also be collecting samples New Mexico’s state lab and Tricore, the largest private lab in the state, can test a combined 600 samples a day. “From the results in general they are taking 24 to 72 hours to have an answer for patients about a potential diagnosis,” said Ryan Tyner, chief medical officer for Optum. “We have seen a large volume of patients and what we want to ask for is patience and some grace in terms of how long it takes to get our community moving through the process.”Mitchell said Tricore is working to bring in new technology to be able to conducts more tests. He said he is not concerned that the backlog would be overwhelming. The two doctors agree that the biggest problem they are facing is people showing up at the testing sites who don’t need to be tested and making people who are critically ill wait longer.Both health care providers have an online screening process they are directing people to go to before showing up at a testing site. The state also has a hotline people can call to see if they should go get tested.