CHICAGO (WBBM NEWSRADIO) -- More than 2,000 Illinois residents have been tested for the coronavirus and the number is expected to increase dramatically; but the time it takes to get results varies widely.
Some tests take hours to produce results, while other take days.
Debra Westfall tested positive for COVID-19.
“I never had a fever and I know that is one of the criteria to get a test was that you have to have a fever and I never did,” Westfall told CBS 2.
She was tested after someone in her building tested positive. She said she was coughing and feeling achy.
She learned she was positive after about 24 hours.
“A lot faster than I thought," Westfall said.
Meanwhile, J.C. Berrios was tested Friday after developing a serious cough.
He waited four days to be tested and has yet to receive the results.
“It’s frustrating because you just want to know, but at this point I just want to feel better,” Berrios told CBS 2.
He was told to assume he has the virus.
“It‘s when you try to take a deep breath and so the more you try to struggle to breath the more it causes you to have these violent coughing fits,” Berrios said.
Some get results on the spot within hours like at Evanston Hospital, which developed it's own test. Others are sending its tests to out-of-state labs, and in the case of J.C. Berrios, results can take days.
The disparities in the turnaround only add to the stress, CBS 2 reports. Add to the fact that neither of these patients said they’ve heard from the Chicago Department of Public Health.
“As a matter of fact, I even called them and left them a voicemail to get back to me,” Westfall said.