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By
NICK GOSNELL
Hutch
Post
HUTCHINSON,
Kan. —&nbsp;Though there is not local testing yet for COVID-19, Chuck Welch with Hutchinson Regional Medical Center is confident that given enough time, the hospital can meet the needs of its patients."Every day that we can continue to practice social distancing, spreading this out, practicing hygiene, not allowing that virus to jump, every day we do that, we're one day closer to not only a vaccine or a treatment, but rapid testing," Welch said. "Just the rapid testing alone would help us in the hospital so much."The problem is the wait for tests makes every case that comes in as probable have to be treated as if its positive."Those tests take sometimes a day or two to get back," Welch said. "Meanwhile, they are sitting in an isolation room waiting for the test. If we could turn those tests in 45 minutes, it would change the battle landscape tremendously."Knowing whether or not a case is positive, especially when many more tests come back negative than positive, would be invaluable in conserving resources."With the speed that this viral fire is burning across Kansas, we can't afford not to vet those people that look like they have it," Welch said.The issue, as it has been since the virus made it to the state in March is that not everyone that has it looks like they have it and they can have it for days and not know that they do, especially if tests are unavailable due to costs or lack of supplies.

Hospital still awaiting faster testing