ATLANTA — The Georgia Department of Public Health will change the way it displays rapid test results, but the positive cases from those rapid tests won’t be included in the state’s total COVID case count.
The reporting method is based on CDC guidance, a spokeswoman for the GA DPH said, but some healthcare providers worry it’s leading to a real undercount in cases.
All test results are required to be reported to the state, but the CDC defines a confirmed COVID case as a PCR lab result. The highly accurate PCR tests are what make up the reported case totals for at least 19 states, including Georgia, according the COVID Tracking Project.
But many states are reporting a combination of rapid and antigen tests in their totals, and those results head determine states' COVID standing.
[DOWNLOAD: Free WSB-TV News app for alerts as news breaks]
The antigen, or rapid tests, are growing in popularity, remain fairly cheap and are available in facilities like urgent care centers. They’ve come under scrutiny for their accuracy, with early studies showing a high percentage of false negative results.
But last month the FDA greenlit the BINAXNow tests that are being sent out to states in bulk.
Georgia is on the receiving end of roughly 3 million of these rapid tests. The first batch went out to high-risk areas like nursing homes, and the remainder of the supply are going to universities, jails, county health departments and EMS facilities through the end of the year, according to the state.
The manufacturer reports high accuracy, as studies continue into the efficiency of antigen tests.
A positive rapid test is included in Georgia’s probable case count, but state health officials say they treat them as confirmed cases when advising patients about isolation, quarantine and contact tracing.
Right now the display for probable cases is in a county-by-county format on the state’s website. In the coming days, it will be included on the state’s case count dashboard. That will make it easier to compare to rapid positives to confirmed PCR cases.
The current count and display of rapid tests is problematic to physicians like Dr. Karen Kinsell. Kinsell is the only doctor in Clay County, Georgia where the population hovers around 3,000 people.
“The whole point is to get an idea of what we’re going through and I know that graph on the state website is an undercount,” Kinsell said.
Kinsell told Channel 2 investigative reporter Nicole Carr the bulk of the population in that portion of the state goes for cheap, rapid testing at urgent care facilities. It’s in part due to the fact that one health department nurse conducts testing for three different Southwest Georgia counties on a weekly basis.
“Anyone who has a rapid antigen is supposed to get a PCR, but I don’t know anyone who has done that,” Kinsell told Carr. “In fact I know a number of different people who have told me within the past couple of weeks that they’re positive and they’re not being shown in an increase in numbers on our state website.”
TRENDING STORIES:
STORY 1
STORY 2
STORY 3
TROUBLE REPORTING RAPID TEST RESULTS
Georgia will stick to the CDC definition of confirmed cases based on PCR tests, but there’s also a lag in reporting probable cases based on the rapid tests.
Nancy Nydam, a spokeswoman for the DPH, noted the state is finding smaller providers are unable to quickly report their rapid test results.
“The challenge is many of the places doing antigen testing, and more every day, are not in the Electronic Laboratory Reporting system and don’t have the IT infrastructure to be part of that system,” Nydam said. “We have made other ways of reporting available including an Excel spreadsheet upload, and a form that can be used for line level entry. Onboarding all these additional facilities takes time.”
Nydam said it’s not possible for the state to determine how many rapid test providers don’t have the capability to report to the electronic system because they don’t have a hold on how many facilities are providing antigen tests.
On Wednesday, Deborah Proctor pulled up to a Cobb County urgent care for a rapid test. She had multiple symptoms, but is scheduled for a doctor’s appointment this week. They’ll ask her about her symptoms before they let her through the door.
“I had to get a test to know if I really have it or not,” Proctor said.
About half an hour later, Proctor’s test came back negative, but she says she’s still going for a PCR test, and will outline her symptoms to her doctor. She also letting him know it came from rapid test.
“Is that enough, or do I have to take more precautions?” Proctor asked.
[SIGN UP: WSB-TV Daily Headlines Newsletter]