PENDLETON — The Umatilla County Health Officer allowed himself to feel an iota of optimism this week. Family physician Jonathan Hitzman said Eastern Oregon’s testing frequency is ramping up.

“Testing capacity is expanding,” Hitzman said. “We’re doing a better job than, say, four weeks ago.”

Interpath Laboratory, headquartered in Pendleton, now offers in-house testing. The company had the equipment to run tests all along, but needed to solve frustrating supply issues preventing it from securing a consistent source of the reagent — the chemical that mixes with the person’s nasal swab to yield a positive or negative result — necessary to run tests. Ultimately, the company found a reliable supplier, signed a contract and is getting rolling. That’s good news for local providers.

Dr. Malcolm Townsley, an internist who works out of St. Anthony Hospital, said his clinic so far hasn’t tested due to a shortage in testing supplies and long turnaround times to get results.

“Three months into this, we have yet to do a single test,” he said. Now, “we will be able to do upwards of 20 tests a day — maybe 30.”

St. Anthony’s emergency department will also be able to obtain 30 tests a day, according to ED Manager Steven Hardin. Both the hospital and clinic will test only symptomatic patients and will closely follow Centers for Disease Control and Prevention guidelines. Symptoms include cough, shortness of breath, fever greater than 100 degrees, difficulty breathing, shaking and chills, headache, loss of taste or smell and sore throat. Blanket testing and drive-thru clinics aren’t yet possible, Townsley said, but at least things are loosening up.

“The only way we can conquer this is to test and do contact tracing,” he said. “The real breakthrough is going to happen when we can test.”

St. Anthony Hospital has done 29 tests with three positive results. Good Shepherd Health Care System in Hermiston, which has the bulk of the county’s COVID cases, has done more testing. Last Thursday, during an East Oregonian “Behind the News” video, CEO Dennis Burke said the hospital had at that point done 248 tests, with 14 testing positive.

In Pendleton, Interpath Marketing Director Judy Kennedy said the laboratory is primed to do 1,000 tests per day, but only if the reagent stays in good supply. She said the company is working to reach capacity.

“I would safely say we could consistently perform 200 to 300 per day at this point,” Kennedy wrote in an email on Monday.

So far, turnaround time averages 24 to 48 hours, but it can take up to four days if the weekend is involved. The company serves a wide area.

“We also have clients throughout Oregon, Washington and Idaho requesting testing, so this is a difficult high wire act,” Kennedy wrote. “We are committed to fulfill what our local communities are requesting first and foremost, and again we are very appreciative of the local providers following the CDC guidelines for testing. We want to be able to provide for their needs.”

Hitzman, as the county’s health officer, participates in regular caucus calls with officers from the state’s other 35 counties. As they strategize, they keep an eye on Oregon’s so far incredibly flat curve, one that defied earlier modeling. Hitzman gives kudos to the collective efforts of Oregonians who are staying home and practicing social distancing.

“We are on the backside of the curve,” he said. “The stay-at-home order is still important, it’s what got us past the peak. We’ve done a good job of staying at home. If we had continued business as usual, it would have been a whole different picture.”

Hitzman said he hopes physicians will ramp up their testing.

“I’m encouraging our providers to test more frequently because we can and we should,” he said. “Our threshold for testing needs to be lower.”

Hitzman said he worries about people in health care facilities, senior living, prisons, grocery stores and other high-risk settings.

“We don’t see prison inmates, but we do see prison employees,” he said. “We would want to test quickly. The same with health care workers, grocery store employees. Anyone considered a high risk individual by virtue of their occupation.”

He said recent data shows that the Portland metro area is testing at a rate of 22.5 tests per 10,000 people. Region 9, which includes Umatilla, Morrow and most other Eastern Oregon counties, performs tests at a rate of 11.9 per 10,000 people. That’s going up, he said. Not long ago, the number was six. During the health directors’ frequent caucus calls, they talk about what might be the optimal testing rate.

“A frequency of 10,000 of 10,000 will never happen, but how many would we like to see?” he said. “The number we’d like to see is 30 or more per 10,000, but quite frankly, if we could test 1% of the population, that would be wonderful.”