CompuNet surpasses 250K COVID-19 tests

As the country reaches a grim milestone with a record number of deaths from the coronavirus in December, CompuNet Clinical Laboratories based in Moraine marks a milestone of significant progress.

From March until December, CompuNet has logged about 265,000 COVID-19 tests.

“It’s a testament to how much we’re committed to eventually really defeating the virus,” states Dr. Ronald Chiu, the Medical Director for CompuNet Clinical Laboratories.

Testing was crucial from the start of the pandemic. In March, CompuNet worked with Premier Health opening one of the nation’s first and longest running COVID test sites at UD Arena. More than 25,000 people were tested there. The site was relocated in August to OnMain, where the old Montgomery County Fairgrounds were. That site has tested another nearly 25,000 people.

As testing ramped up, CompuNet scaled up.

“From the very first where we could only do 100-200 cases a week, now we can do like over 1,000 cases a day,” says Dr. Chiu.

The challenge at first was the availability of testing reagents.

“Now we don’t have that problem anymore,” says Dr. Chiu.

The challenge now is having enough staff to keep up.

“You need to have more personnel so that you can catch up testing-wise,” states Dr. Chiu.

With a high volume capacity and low turnaround times for results, testing has become a well-oiled machine.

CompuNet has also expanded its collection sites from one to eleven.

“I think we’ve gotten a good handle on how we do our testing,” states Dr. Chiu.

CompuNet is continuing to work on increased availability of testing to help control the spread of the virus.

Currently, all of its testing sites require a doctor’s order to get tested.

WDTN