Local residents concerned about the delay in COVID-19 test results

As the county works to speed up COVID-19 testing turn around time, some have told us they are waiting days to find out if they tested positive for COVID-19. 

News Channel 3’s Dani Romero has more how the county is responding to their concerns. 

“It's just frustrating. It's like unprofessional you know because we go in and do our tests so we can be safe and not get other people sick," said Brenda Nieto.

Brenda Nieto is stuck in limbo. She has been waiting days for her COVID-19 test results. 

“They told us they were going to send us a text," said Nieto. "It's already Wednesday and they haven't texted or anything. I called several numbers and they don't seem to have any info.” 

Nieto wasn’t showing COVID symptoms but she wanted to get tested for it. 

“I haven't had like fever or anything, but I had chills, a little bit of cough and my sour throat," said Nieto.

With no coronavirus results in sight, its put her in a bind. 

“I haven't been to work and I was telling my daughter, I'm going to miss another week of work.” 

Nieto isn't alone. One viewer sent us a photo showing us a timeline of the progress of their test results. 

The photo shows it took 3 days for the lab to finally get the test and  another day for them to start processing it.

“Now, if you imagine how many thousands of tests we are doing every day," said Jose Arballo. "It's a matter of them getting in at various parts of the day as well.” 

Jose Arballo, a county spokesperson said testing has nearly doubled. 

They are testing more than 600 people per 100,000 countywide.

“The extension of the turn around time has more to do with the numbers," said Arballo.

Arballo said they partnered with testing company, Curative, to update testing sites for faster results. 

 “[We] may outliers or instances where you might have individuals who don’t get contacted right away," said Arballo. "But we're hoping to work with Curative to resolve any issues that we may have with individuals that are not getting the results as quick as they would like.” 

With an increase in testing numbers, booking an appointment has also been hard for some residents.

“We are doing as best we can when it comes to testing," said Arballo. "We have to realize we are doing more testing now than we have at any point during this pandemic.” 

Curative offices and sites will be closed Christmas Eve and Christmas Day.