HANCOCK — Michigan recently opened up testing to include people without symptoms if recommended by a doctor. However, supply chain issues are still a limiting factor on how many tests can be done, Beer said. 

“It’s really dependent upon your symptoms, your history and the availability of supplies,” she said. 

Shortages are occurring both on the test-taking end, such as swabs or the medium to transport them to the lab, as well as reagents used in running the test.

“Each facility has their own supply chain, so it really depends on who they’ve chosen as their vendor,” Beer said. “Some have increased the number of vendors they’ve used so it can be an adequate supply.”

Testing at the Michigan Technological University lab is going well, though they have had supply issues with reagents, Beer said. It has led to quicker turnaround times for results. 

“When we first started this, we were 14 days out with a result and now we’re getting them in 24-48 hours sometimes,” she said. “It’s really made a huge difference.”

This week, the WUPHD also launched a drive-through clinic at Michigan Tech in conjunction with the Upper Great Lakes Family Health Center, which can handle up to 60 tests in a day. People can call 844-947-4854 toll-free to be screened for COVID-19 symptoms. 

Beer said she has asked the state what level of testing would be necessary locally to determine if there has been community spread of the novel coronavirus. She has yet to get a solid answer.  

“They would like to see testing capacity across the state doubled before they could say we’re doing a really good job of surveillance,” she said. 

The same supply issues with testing apply statewide, Beer said. For higher levels of testing, there are also manpower issues for administering the test and performing the screenings. 

As economic sectors of the state begin to reopen, the WUPHD’s role right now is mainly educational and providing guidelines and safe hygiene practices for staff and customers, Beer said. 

Beer said people have done well at following social-distancing guidelines. She foresees more compliance with this week’s executive order requiring masks in enclosed public spaces as people acquire them. 

“I’ve seen an uptick in people wearing masks, which is a great thing,” she said. “We’re just looking for people to understand that that’s something we need to do together to get through this.”

Beer said it is too early to tell if practices such as wearing masks will be adopted into the routine public health toolkit for smaller issues, such as flu season. As for the COVID fight, she said guidelines will continue to evolve as more information comes out as researchers learn more about the disease and the health department learns more about what the level of transmission is in the community. 

“One of the best ways to look at reopening is a phased approach, where these non-pharmaceutical interventions — the social distancing, the washing of hands — Is just going to be a way of life, because those are really the tools we have available,” she said.