USC’s testing capacity for coronavirus is limited but developing

There are no cases of COVID-19 at USC, as of March 9, according to the university. As the coronavirus situation evolves in the Los Angeles County, some USC students who presented cold-like symptoms are concerned about their health after the university’s health center declined to test them.

On Monday, sophomore Max Dresner was anxious about his cold-like symptoms and made an appointment at the health center.

“They don’t do official coronavirus tests there, but they tested me for symptoms and listened to my chest,” said Dresner, who was good to go once the health center staff cleared him for his cough.

Another USC student who had a fever and cough after returning from Mexico expressed her concern on Twitter, saying she was told to stay home.

COVID-19 tests provided by the USC Student Health are limited and “reserved for symptomatic persons returning from high-risk travel locations (CDC Level 3) and severely ill hospitalized patients who have had recent travel to CDC Level 3 an[d] 2 countries, ”according to the university’s website. The health center does not recommend a routine testing of individuals with cough, cold and flu symptoms in outpatient clinics as part of clinical diagnosis.

“Testing recommendations are still limited to high risk returning travelers, persons with symptoms and a known COVID-19 patient contact, and hospitalized individuals,” Chief Health Officer Sarah Van Orman told Annenberg Media in an email.

“Additional testing capacity is being developed throughout Keck Medicine, but it is still limited,” Van Orman said. “This will change and evolve over the next few days and weeks as testing becomes more available and community transmission common.”

Van Orman also said the school is working closely with the experts to develop a testing strategy for both campuses as well as the entire patient population Keck Medicine serves.

“We do not have anyone under evaluation, however, we can anticipate that we will over the coming days to weeks as testing becomes more common,” Van Orman told Annenberg Media.

As the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health announced the first possible case of community transmission of COVID-19 Monday, the coronavirus is expected to spread deeper into the community. Community transmission means that the individual’s source of exposure to the virus is unknown. In total, 20 confirmed positive cases of COVID-19 in the county, including Long Beach and Pasadena, have been reported by the L.A. County Department of Public Health.

The department’s director, Dr. Barbara Ferrer, said in an update on Facebook Tuesday that the public health lab is capable of around 50 tests per day, and two commercial labs in L.A. County could run more tests.

“Capacity in L.A. County either doubled or tripled in the last couple of days,” Ferrer said. “We’ll be working with them to make sure that we have good numbers as they become fully operational.”

Statewide, there are 18 public health labs that are testing for COVID-19, according to the California Department of Public Health. In addition to state public health labs, testing is available at two national reference labs, Quest and LabCore, said Van Orman. “Positive tests still require confirmation at the CDC. Patients throughout Keck Medicine including student health can have samples sent to Quest when needed,” she said.

Meanwhile, many universities are working to contain the spread of the virus in their communities. Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tennessee, for instance, announced Monday it would be suspending all classes for the week and will resume with online classes on March 16.

Zoe Antell, a sophomore at Vanderbilt, said she was denied COVID-19 testing from her student health center even though she had traveled to Spain.

“Immediately she [the nurse] just said, ‘Were you in a high-risk country?’ I said, ‘No.’ And she said, ‘Were you with any known cases?’ And I said, ‘No.’ And she said, ‘Okay, there’s nothing we can do,’” Antell explained.