Beloit Health System can provide COVID-19 test results in under an hour thanks to a machine it already had before the coronavirus outbreak.
President Tim McKevett said the FDA recently approved COVID-19 test for the Cepheid GeneXpert system that’s been in use nationwide for close to 20 years.
The machine was previously used to test for diseases like influenza, strep throat and tuberculosis, and now it can detect a positive COVID-19 case with 99 percent accuracy.
McKevett said they currently receive enough materials for 450-500 in-house tests per month, but he anticipates that capacity growing in the near future.
Their doctors and nurses are still prioritizing the tests for high-risk patients, those who are hospitalized or essential workers showing symptoms.
Beloit Health System also recently conducted its first plasma transplant from a recovered COVID-19 patient to someone currently with the disease.
The plasma treatment gives the patients antibodies from a recovered person, to help fight the disease. McKevett said it doesn’t function like a vaccine, but it helps the individual’s own immune system better fight the coronavirus.
