Ventura County utilizing LA-based lab to process COVID tests

VENTURA COUNTY, Calif. - Ventura County, like many counties in the area, is using a testing lab in Los Angeles to process COVID-19 results.

Thousands of samples come pouring in daily.

Monrovia-based "LetsGetChecked" is processing COVID-19 tests from Ventura County residents who visit one of its five mobile testing sites.

"Everyday, at the end of the day, we have a courier that comes and picks up those samples from all of our testing sites," said Patrick Maynard, Ventura County Office Director of Emergency Services. "Those samples are then transported down to Monrovia where they are tested the very next day."

Ventura County was the lab's first client… back in late January. Demand is up a lot since then.

"We are working with the California COVID task force. We are located in about 13 counties, predominantly in Central and Southern California," Eric Kwak, Chief business officer for LetsGetChecked said. "We are operating most of the Southern California sites and locating in about 58 of the collection facilities."

Once a sample is delivered, its goes into a processing room where it gets sorted. Then it's taken to a different room and logged. Eventually the sample is put into a machine known as the Panther.

"The Panther instrument, it is one of the only fully automated instruments. It is performing the molecular diagnostic test. And it is looking for active live infections," Kwak said."It is a chemical reaction and there is a light reaction based on the intensity of that light will determine the results of the test."

"The testing process that we use here is the preliminary change reaction test, a PCR test. That test is looking for the genetic material included within the virus so it is very sensitive and it is very accurate. with that being said it illuminates a lot of false positives and false negatives," said Maynard.

The machines work 24/7 and can process nearly 50,000 tests per day. Test results come back via text message within a couple days at a time when quick turnaround is critical.

Kwak says demand has increased and the company has seen a significant spike in recent weeks.