ATLANTA — Georgia’s director of public health says the lag time for people waiting to get coronavirus test results is unacceptable.
Channel 2′s Dave Huddleston spoke one-on-one with Dr. Kathleen Toomey on Monday, who said she’s so concerned about it that she mentioned it to the governor and they are now taking action.
"I will be very frank with you, that is absolutely unacceptable," Toomey said. "We need a better response and turnaround time."
Toomey said the state gets help from private testing companies.
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“Despite the fact that every state is experiencing this, that doesn’t make it the right thing to be doing,” Toomey said.
She said she went straight to the top for help.
"I even reached out to the governor to reach out to the labs themselves to tell them they need to do a better job, and more importantly we're going to get some additional labs," Toomey said.
Toomey said those results are needed quickly, because people are sheltering in place, and contact tracing may need to be set up.
She also told Huddleston that despite the state not having a mandate to wear a mask, she supports leaders like Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms putting one in place.
"I respect the right of mayors to direct their constituents, but we need to do this, we are seeing an increase in case loads," Toomey said.
Nikolaus Daniels said he took a COVID-19 test on Friday.
"So, when do you get your results back?" Huddleston asked Daniels.
"They didn't tell us specifically when we get our results back," Daniels said.
Daniels told Huddleston that he expects his results sometime this week, maybe longer.
Huddleston contacted the governor’s office to see about Toomey’s request and they told him they are currently working on a variety of options.
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