Answers to questions regarding the availability of testing, new types of tests and how testing could help end the states shutdown.

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As New Jersey and much of the country begin to emerge from the most intense surges of the coronavirus outbreak, attention is turning toward testing.

Public health officials say improvements and access to testing are crucial to ending shutdowns like New Jerseys, which has closed schools and most businesses, prohibited gatherings, and, generally, kept most people housebound for the last month.

But many questions about how testing works, and who is allowed to get tested, remain.

What improvements have been made to testing?

On Thursday, state officials announced a new saliva-based test developed by Rutgers University that is expected to allow for broader testing than currently possible with nose and throat swab tests.

Other benefits of the new test include not putting health care professionals at risk for infection by performing and allowing personal protective equipment to be reserved for use in patient care instead of testing.

Most importantly, perhaps, the new testing is faster, allowing for a significant increase in the number of people tested daily.

The testing could be particularly important for quarantined people especially health care workers who are unsure when it is safe to leave quarantine.

Rutgers also recently announced a genetic testing service that allows for an increase of thousands of tests daily. Combined with the new saliva test, New Jerseys testing capacity could increase to tens of thousands of samples daily, according to the university.

In addition, earlier this month New Jersey received 15 Abbott ID NOW Instruments, which can test and diagnose coronavirus in as little as five minutes.

How will New Jersey use testing to help end the shutdown?

Next week the state is to release an outline regarding how the state will conduct widespread testing and contact tracing.

Both are prerequisites to the state relaxing social distancing and reopening businesses, according to the state department of health.

To date, the state has tested about 2% of the population, and the vast majority of those tested have been for symptomatic patients.

Already though, the state is slowly expanding the scope of testing, according to Gov. Phil Murphy.

One such expansion is a plan, announced Thursday by Murphy, that would test all residents and staff at New Jerseys five developmental centers, including the New Lisbon Developmental Center in Woodland.

The state already has begun a widespread testing program of nursing homes and assisted living facilities in South Jersey.

The department of health, in coordination with Cooper University, on Wednesday tested 3,000 long term-care facilities patients and staff, according to health commissioner Judy Persichilli.

State epidemiologist Dr. Christina Tan repeatedly has emphasized testing is just the first part of the states strategy.

The testing strategy also involves the need to then take the next step. Once you get the results you have to be able to act upon those results, because otherwise whats the point to doing the testing, right, if youre not going to be able to take the next steps to isolate, to be able to do contact tracing, to be able to for example in the long-term care facilities to appropriately cohort and to do all the appropriate infection control measures that need to happen, Tan said at a news conference Wednesday.

To effectively perform contact tracing, the state needs about 81 dedicated health professional per 100,000 people, according to Persichilli. In New Jersey that would total 7,290 health professionals.

The state is developing a testing task force that will further refine testing strategy, according to Persichilli.

According to guidelines from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, after an individual tests positive, health officials then dive into evaluating persons considered to have been in close contact with the COVID-19 positive patient.

Individuals considered to have close contact could include members of a patients household; community members who spent at least 10 minutes within 6 feet of the patient; community members who were exposed to the patient in a health care setting; and health care personnel, according to the CDC.

People identified as having been in close contact then enter a 14-day monitoring period, which includes daily check-ins with local health department officials. Anyone who develops new or worsening symptoms is then deemed a person under investigation for COVID-19 and tested for the disease, according to the CDC.

Should any one these individuals test positive, health officials will once again start the contact tracing process.

Though Murphy has said at least a small rise in coronavirus cases is inevitable once the shutdown is lifted, contact tracing will significantly help to contain the spread, according to health officials.

Where can I get tested in Burlington County, and why are some sites limited to certain municipal residents?

There are three types of testing sites in New Jersey: Community-based testing sites which are open to all New Jerseyans experiencing symptoms of respiratory illness; county testing sites, which largely are restricted to residents or first responders of a specific county; and private testing sites, which usually require a referral from a health care provider.

Burlington County has a county site and a private sight.

The county testing site at the Burlington County Emergency Services Training Center, 695 Woodlane Road in Westampton, opened late last month and has since conducted about 1,500 tests.

The drive-through site is open only to symptomatic Burlington residents who have made an appointment. Hours are limited to Tuesdays and Thursdays 10 a.m.-1 p.m.

As of Thursday morning the county had conducted 1,432 tests, over eight total testing days, since it opened the site March 26. It tests about 180 people per testing day. Appointments are still available.

The countys private site, on the other hand, has only been open a few days.

Virtua on Monday began testing at Virtua Willingboro hospital, formerly Lourdes Medical Center of Burlington County, off Sunset Road. More than 50 people were tested within the first hour and Virtua officials expect to test about 100 people each day.

The free testing site is restricted to Willingboro residents, and patients who have a referral from a Virtua Health doctor. Those patients do not have to be from Willingboro, but do need a doctors order to be tested.

Virtua focused testing on Willingboro because the township has been the hardest hit community in Burlington County. As of Wednesday night, Willingboro had 336 cases and 10 deaths as of Friday, according to county data.

The next highest caseload is in adjoining Burlington Township, which reports 219 cases and 14 deaths as of Friday, county data shows.

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What you need to know about coronavirus testing in New Jersey - Burlington County Times

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