CORRECTION: An earlier version of this story contained incorrect information about Reditus Labs being overwhelmed by COVID-19 test samples when that is not the case. The earlier version also said the labs have not been able to test for Omicron yet. However, Reditus Labs did a sequencing run on Dec. 5. The story has been corrected. We apologize for the error.
PEKIN, Ill. (WMBD) — The CEO of Reditus Laboratories said COVID-19 testing has surged three to four times in the last 10 days.
Dr. Aaron Rossi, CEO of Reditus Laboratories, said 12,000 samples just came in on Monday.
Rossi said the lab is currently out of the reagent strips used to test for variants because of supply chain issues. He said they were able to do a sequencing run on Dec. 5., but have not yet detected Omicron.
Rossi suspects Omicron is likely spreading throughout the region and expects more variants down the line.
“We’re going to keep seeing peaks and troughs of testing and new variants. And this is a virus that is mutating very very quickly. Hopefully it continues to become less pathogenic over time,” he said.
At Tuesday’s Tri-County Presser, Monica Hendrickson, public health administrator at Peoria City/County Health Department, confirmed the first case of Omicron in the region was detected the prior week.
Reditus plans to resume processing variant sequencing on Jan. 7, 2022
