Helix Diagnostics is a lab based out of Metro Detroit’s Waterford, and it is taking a big step toward COVID-19 testing.
In an interview with MLive, Helix Diagnostics provided a peek behind the curtain on the steps a coronavirus specimen goes through once it leaves its host and ends up on a medical swab.
The coronavirus samples tested by Helix Diagnostics are acquired by private physicians and clinics. Aside from that, it also mans a drive-thru testing setup at its Waterford Township location, collecting samples from sick, immobile and vulnerable patients when a request is received from a doctor.
According to Helix Diagnostics co-owner and CEO Jim Grossi, the lab is looking to be capable of processing upward of 700 samples daily. That would equate to 14% of the 5,000 average tests conducted within Michigan between April 1 and April 6.
It typically takes around five-and-a-half hours to process the test results of a sample. However, Helix Diagnostics processes results within 48 to 72 hours from the moment that it receives the test tube.
“You’ve got companies out there sitting on 400,000 backlog swabs,” Grossi told MLive. "That’s not what we’re trying to do ... We’re not going to hold on to results for seven, eight days because we can’t get them through the system.
“We’d rather tell people, this is what we can do a day ... when we’re at capacity, we’re tapped out,” said Grossi.
Alerts Sign-up