Tarrant County On COVID-19 testing:
“Tarrant County Public Health does not perform walk-in testing for individuals,” said Tarrant County Public Health Director Vinny Taneja. “Anyone concerned about COVID-19 and has symptoms, such as a cough, fever, shortness of breath should contact their doctor or health provider and not assume they have COVID-19. Other than one confirmed case, there is no generalized spread of COVID-19 in Tarrant County.
This is a response to a Facebook post on March 5:
Tarrant County Public Health (TCPH) now has the capability to test for COVID-19. Tarrant County joins other labs across the state who now have local testing capability, including Dallas, Houston, El Paso, San Antonio and Lubbock.
Until now, local health departments were sending samples to the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) for testing, which could take up to a week for results. Tarrant County Public Health will now be able to test for the novel coronavirus with same day or next day results.
On March 5, Governor Abbott’s office said the state was ramping up the Texas Laboratory Response Network. The state public health lab network will be able to test over 125 patients per day once the entire network is equipped.
Tarrant County says if a person has respiratory issues, Public Health advice is to contact a physician or an urgent care or other medical facility and get tested for the flu or other viral illnesses. “If your doctor or medical professional determines that, based on your symptoms and travel history that a COVID-19 test is needed, specimens will be taken and sent to a lab for testing.”
Taneja noted that commercial labs, such as Quest, Arup and LabCorp are now online and do perform COVID-19 testing at the request of a physician or medical facility.
For more information visit coronavirus.tarrantcounty.com or call the hotline during business hours: 817-248-6299.
