ODESSA, Texas — Ector County is trying to take the next step in the right direction for faster and more efficient COVID-19 testing.
They thought it could be as simple as adding a machine to a few different facilities throughout the county, but research is proving otherwise.
"We were initially looking at having a cephid machine in the health department, jail, and the youth center," said Brandy Garcia, director of the Ector County Health Department. "We're still doing some research on what all is required to have those machines."
The county ordered three Cepheid testing machines. They're used to give rapid results for different medical tests, including COVID-19, but now they're taking a step back and wondering if adding three machines in the county is possible.
"We have to have a lab set up in the facility to have those machines and there's things we're going to have to do in those departments in order for there to be a lab," said Garcia.
It might be possible to add a testing lab to the health department but maybe not as easy in the youth or detention center.
Luckily, the county still has three weeks, give or take, to decide.
"There was initially a six week waiting period before they would ship the equipment out so I'm thinking we still have about a three week period to make that decision," said Garcia.
The Cepheid machine also tests for things that the health department already tests for like the flu and std's, but having the required lab would allow the health department to get those test results back to people faster because all testing would be done in house.