UAB To Soon Ramp Up Coronavirus Testing

BIRMINGHAM, AL—The University of Alabama at Birmingham announced its pathology labs will be able to start testing for coronavirus by the end of the week.

“This morning we found out that the FDA has loosened regulations allowing labs like ours, high complexity laboratories, to be able run gen mark commercial diagnostic testing," Sixto Leal, MD, UAB hospital's director of clinical microbiology, said.

As of Tuesday afternoon, there were 39 confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Alabama, including 21 in Jefferson County, according to the Alabama Department of Public Health. Because the U.S. Food & Drug Administration loosened regulations regarding testing, Leal said his lab is now able to have direct contact with ADPH.

“What we’re doing is bringing in two laboratories development tests. These are two customized tests that we will be doing here at UAB that allows us by the end of this week to ramp up the ability the number of tests we can do per day to 100," Leal said.

Within the following week, Leal said his lab will be able to conduct 150 to 200 coronavirus tests per day.

"The week after that the numbers are up to about 400 to 800 tests per day," he said.

A private lab, Assurance Scientific Laboratories, continues to offer drive-thru testing for the coronavirus at Church of the Highlands' Grants Mill campus. Urgent Care for Children is also offering curbside COVID-19 testing. Details can be found at this link.

Listen to UAB hospital's director of clinical microbiology discuss the upcoming testing:

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