Demand for expanded COVID-19 testing in Milwaukee Co. rises, lab staffing remains the same

MILWAUKEE -- Milwaukee County has the largest number of coronavirus cases in the state. Officials say, because of that, a large portion of testing will soon take place locally as the march toward re-opening the state continues.

Sanjib Bhattacharyya

"Expanding laboratory capacity, that's one of the big highlights not only now but the last several weeks and moving forward," said Sanjib Bhattacharyya, Milwaukee Health Department laboratory director.

Milwaukee County officials say expanded local testing is the next key step in fighting the virus after the announcement of Gov. Tony Evers' "Badger Bounce Back" plan which calls for a significant increase in testing before the state can be re-opened.

"Milwaukee County without a doubt suffers the greatest burden of cases and deaths in the state, a large portion of that testing would take place in our community," said Dr. Ben Weston with the Milwaukee County Office of Emergency Management.

The testing lab located in Milwaukee has expanded operations tenfold. However, staffing remains the same.

"You have to really understand how stretched we are," Bhattacharyya said.

While the medical laboratory professionals work around the clock, testing is moving to a proactive approach with a goal of testing everyone who is symptomatic.

"We want to ensure that communities, facilities and individuals most in need have rapid, easy, affordable access to testing," Weston said.

While the total number of tests is up, the number of positive cases is steady. Milwaukee officials say it is because social distancing is working.

"This is indicative of a decrease in the percent of positive test results for the first time over the course of the pandemic," said Darren Rausch of the Greenfield Health Department.

While there will be an expansion of testing, city and county officials say the fastest way to get back on track is to continue social distancing.