10TV: Dr. Gastaldo Takes Part in COVID-19 Q&A

Wondered what's going on with COVID-19 testing in Ohio right now? Joseph Gastaldo, MD, OhioHealth system medical director, infectious diseases, recently took part in a live phone interview with 10TV on March 23 during the 5:30 p.m. newscast to answer viewer questions.

Dr. Gastaldo told viewers that OhioHealth currently has a variety of mechanisms to test people. 

"OhioHealth and other systems are doing drive-thru testing, inpatient testing and emergency department testing," Dr. Gastaldo told 10TV.  "But I think it’s important for the viewers to know that there are still limitations."

These include limitations in supplies like test swabs and the appropriate solution to put them in. There are also delays in getting test results back, either through reference labs, private practice labs, the Ohio Department of Health and onsite testing. 

"It’s not something where you go get a test today and get your results back in a couple of hours," said Dr. Gastaldo. "That's the ultimate goal, and every day we’re making baby steps in that direction where we can get testing done in real time. We’re not there yet, but I’m cautiously optimistic that we will get there sometime in the near future.”

For now, healthcare workers across the state continue working toward widespread testing to help define the curve of infection and accurately estimate how many COVID-19 cases are truly present in Ohio.