WI Testing Clinic Reports More Testing, Positive COVID-19 Cases

WISCONSIN — Summit Clinical Laboratories, a clinic group with five locations in southeast Wisconsin, said Wednesday that higher numbers of people got tested for COVID-19 and positive cases rose as well.

The group saw an a 8 to 14 percent positive case rate among its patients, compared to a 1 to 2 percent positive rate in July, clinic director of sales Faisal Ahmed-Yahia told Patch. The group is now testing 300 people per day, compared to 30 to 40 tests per day six weeks ago.

The clinics also experienced a shortage of test kits and had to close Tuesday. The Wisconsin Department of Health Services sent 17,000 COVID-19 testing kits to the clinics, and they reopened Wednesday, Ahmad-Yahia said.

"It's kind of the perfect storm we had going on with our collection sites being overwhelmed with numbers we've never seen before," he said.

Summerfest, school reopenings and the spread of the delta variant caused breakthrough cases and drove more people to get tested, Ahmad-Yahia said. On Wednesday, the clinics saw 600 patients.

Staff shortages also posed a challenge as the clinics test at Milwaukee Public Schools' 152 schools and for 32 other school districts, he said. The clinics still have 50 positions open to facilitate testing in schools.

A missed shipment also contributed to the temporary testing shortage, Ahmad-Yahia said.

See Also: New Berlin Clinic Reports Higher COVID-19 Cases, Offers Testing

Hashim Zaibak owns the Hayat Pharmacy, which tests near the Mitchell International Airport. He told WISN-12 that there has been a huge spike in demand for testing in the past few days.

Here are the Summit Clinical Laboratories coronavirus locations hours.

• New Berlin: 3711 S. Moorland Road, New Berlin, Monday to Friday from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., Saturday from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m.
• Lake Country: 2850 Heritage Drive, Delafield, Monday to Friday from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., Saturday from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m.
• Milwaukee South: 7358 W. Rawson Ave., Franklin, Monday to Friday from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., Saturday from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m.
• Milwaukee Midtown: 5434 W. Capitol Drive, Milwaukee, Monday to Friday from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., Saturday from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m.
• Northshore: 8643 N. Port Washington Road, Fox Point, Monday to Friday from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., Saturday from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m.