"Yesterday we tested about 250 patients," said Huntsville Hospital CEO, David Spillers. "We would like to be testing about 500 a day. We are limited in our testing right now because we don't have adequate supplies."
On Monday, Spillers expressed major concerns about not having enough supplies to test for the coronavirus.
"I can't tell you how important testing is. Not having adequate testing hurts our entire community. We need to diagnose people as quickly as possible so we can get them isolated." said Spillers.
When asked when they would be getting the supplied needed, Spillers said it's all up to the vendors they use.
"We're at their mercy on that. They've been a good supplier at this point I just think the demand is starting to exceed their ability to get the products wholesale so that impacts their ability to get them to us."
After Spillers voiced these concerns, he was contacted by Roche Laboratories. They told the hospital that they're confident they can meet their testing needs.
During this time, Huntsville Mayor Tom Battle said it's extremely important for everyone to follow the guidelines that have been set in our community.
"Last week we closed down our parks and this weekend we spent time chasing people out of our parks," Battle said. "There were teams trying to have team sports and others trying to do other things and we chased them out. I think they got the message that our parks are not going to be open for team sports."
Spillers added to the sentiment saying, "People need to comply. I'm scared to death of what I've seen happening in New York and New Orleans and I don't want that happening here."
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