Daily report reflects lack of coronavirus tests in Imperial County
Number of positive test results tops number of tests administered
EL CENTRO, Calif. (KYMA, KECY) - The lack of coronavirus tests reflected in the most recent report from the Imperial County Public Health Department (ICPHD).
Health officials confirmed 75 new cases Monday. However, they also reported only 73 new tests.
Imperial County's Public Health Officer, Dr. Stephen Munday addressed the drop in tests during a press conference Monday afternoon.
"...the State did put out some new recommendations with regards
to testing. And I want to make sure that everybody here understands the reasoning behind that. It is not because we really want to test different people than we were recommending before. We did it because the testing materials have become much more unavailable. Because of worldwide supply chain issues as well as the big surge that we’re having in many
places across the Country. That has led to both an increased need for testing and a decreased availability of testing." said Munday.
The doctor says the county still has good test capacity, but he isn't sure how long that will last.
"However, because of the general shortage it is certainly possible that we’re going to find in the coming weeks that testing is going to be more problematic and that the turnaround time for example is going to be longer because of the lack of materials." said Dr. Munday
Coronavirus in Imperial County - Monday, July 20, 2020
| Overview of Cases | Patients | Increase/Decrease |
|---|---|---|
| Positive Cases | 8,606 | +75 |
| Patients Tested | 41,876 | +73 |
| Active Cases | 925 | -135 |
| Recovered | 7,518 | +208 |
| Deaths | 163 | +2 |
Dr. Munday also discussed the availability of hospital beds in the Valley in response to question from CBS 13's Alexandra Rangel. She wanted to know if patients were still being sent out of Imperial County for treatment, and if the surge is reducing bed space elsewhere.
"We do continue to transfer patients out. However, the number that we have transferred out have decreased. We think this is likely for a few reasons. First both hospitals have increased their ICU capacity. So they are able to keep more ICU patients within County. Second, you’re absolutely right, as we’re seeing COVID-19 cases increase throughout California, other hospital’s capacity is less. So we are really trying to focus on being able to
increase our ability to care for patients." answered Dr. Munday.
And it appears the number of those requiring medical attention may be going down. Monday's report showed 135 fewer active cases, and moved 208 more patients to the recovered list.
[Related Story: California Coronavirus Cases]
California currently has more than 387,000 cases of coronavirus. The illness has now killed nearly 7,700 Californians.
