GARDEN CITY, Idaho — Before Idaho was nearing crisis standards of care, we were under indoctrination that testing was the key to slowing the spread of COVID-19. That belief hasn't changed since March, but the number of tests has.
On Thursday, more than 1,000 confirmed cases of COVID-19 were reported. Out of the nearly 800,000 PCR tests that have been administered, the state has reported more than 104,000 total confirmed cases since the pandemic began in March.
During the first week of March, there were 25 COVID-19 tests administered across the state, according to the state's website.
The week before Thanksgiving, nearly 46,000 tests were conducted.
There are more than 200 facilities in Idaho that report positive COVID-19 cases to the state. One of those labs is Cole Diagnostics in Garden City.
Dr. Ryan Cole owns and operates Cole Diagnostics, which he said is the largest independent laboratory in the State of Idaho.
Over the past few months, Cole Diagnostics has never been busier.
"My average workday is at the microscope looking at pieces of people all day long, diagnosing cancer, what kind, how bad, collaborating with the physicians on treatment plans for their patients, pap smears for women's health," Cole said. "I've seen about 600,000 biopsies in my career so far."
On Thursday, Cole completed yet another 27-hour shift at the lab.
"I haven't slept since yesterday morning," he said. "You run on adrenaline and caffeine, and then you power nap and you get a couple rem cycles in, and you wake up and you do it all over again."
That power nap is usually taken in a leather chair in his office. Over the last two and a half months, Cole has spent a total of four full days.
"I can't tell you what day of the week it is," Cole said. "It's funny [because] today's my wife's birthday and yesterday she was talking to her sister and I said, 'oh who are you talking to?' and she said, 'my sister, she called to wish me a happy birthday tomorrow'. I'm like, 'Oh, it's Dec. 17 already?'"
In March, Cole Diagnostics saw an impending wave of COVID-19 heading for Idaho, prompting Cole to study genetic patterns and mutations of the virus. At that time, getting the necessary equipment to conduct a PCR test was very difficult.
"We started out small-scale and ramped from there," he said. "We started with about 58 employees and now we're up to 80 employees just to keep up with demand. As you've seen, it keeps spreading and growing."
In the early days, the lab was analyzing anywhere from 100-200 tests on a busy day. On Wednesday night, the lab analyzed 1,300 tests. By noon on Thursday, another 500 tests arrived.
Despite the unpredictable nature of the virus, Cole does see an end to his 27-hour shifts.
"If you look at the history of all coronaviruses, coronaviruses are seasonal," he explained. "We kind of suppressed that life cycle with the lockdowns after March by about three months, and usually in the Fall and Winter, coronaviruses will flare, be it the common cold type or the pandemic we do have."
Right now, Idaho is at its peak. Cole believes the spike may go up a bit after Christmas, but by January and February, the state may be back to endemic levels, seeing as little as 100 new cases per day.
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