Doctors at the Tulane Medical Center and University Medical Center have procured a new COVID-19 diagnostic test that yields results in just four hours.

As elected officials, first responders and health care workers in New Orleans ramp up efforts to mitigate the crisis caused by the novel coronavirus, one of the obstacles has been a wait for commercial test results of patients who may be infected. Some take up to a week, though most state testing results get turned around within 48 hours.

A laboratory based at the Tulane Medical Center is now conducting tests in partnership with the Tulane University School of Medicine, Louisiana State University School of Medicine, LCMC Health and Roche Diagnostics, a Switzerland-based manufacturing company.

Tulane researchers ran the first set of tests using the Cobas 6800 analyzer, as the test is known, over the weekend. Now, they say, they say they can run nearly 200 tests a day on patients at both Tulane Medical Center and University Medical Center.

Other, limited-supply tests being administered in the area can take several days to reveal whether or not a person has the virus, which has killed 101 people in New Orleans alone. Doctors do not need to send the Cobas 6800 to the state lab in Baton Rouge to process results. It also yields quicker results than other commercial companies' tests.

The federal Food and Drug Administration authorized Roche Diagnostics to release the rapid-results tests via an emergency use mandate, for people presenting symptoms of COVID-19, such as a fever, dry cough and difficulty breathing. The tests "detect the virus in saliva and mucus swab samples from patients who meet the clinical and epidemiological criteria," according to a Tulane-generated news release.

The availability of the new tests is a major advancement in a suffering region. A recent analysis conducted by The Times-Picayune | New Orleans Advocate revealed that Orleans Parish had the highest death rates per capita from the virus, when compared to other American counties (and other Louisiana parishes) — with 1 out of 10,000 residents dying from COVID-19. The virus has proved to be especially fatal among elderly populations and those with pre-existing health conditions.

Because of the new tests’ rapid turnaround time, health care workers will be able to release patients with negative results quickly, and keep those who test positive in quarantine. It also allows hospitals to conserve limited resources and better manage space in COVID-19 specific units.

“Hospitals need in-house testing to manage patients admitted with presumptive symptoms of COVID-19,” said Dr. Byron Crawford, medical director of the Tulane Medical Center Laboratory and a professor of pathology at Tulane School of Medicine, in a press release.

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Dr. Lee Hamm, dean of Tulane Medical School, said the lack of widespread testing — and the slow turnaround period — had been “one of the critical issues in dealing with this pandemic. By working together between Tulane, LSU, and LCMC/UMC we have been able to achieve rapid testing now — this is a huge achievement for our patients.”

Melinda Richard, deputy assistant secretary of the Office of Public Health, which is overseen by the Louisiana Department of Health (LDH), said the state agency will be initiating use of a new piece of equipment, the Abbott m2000 RealTime System, later this week to boost testing efforts.

“We are increasing our testing capacity and speed to report every day,” she said, adding that the state has been receiving just under 300 tests per day. The results of the state's lab, combined with other companies' tests, such as Quest Diagnostics and LabCorp, are accounted for on the LDH's website, which is updated daily with new statistics.