Why does COVID testing take so long? A behind-the-scenes look | Considerable.How you get your NHS coronavirus (COVID) test result - NHS
Looking for:
Why do pcr test results take so long -
Why Is My COVID Test Taking So Long? - Covid Clinic.Why does it still take so long to get a COVID PCR test result? - CBS News
A Montanan drove an hour each way to get a test, wondering whether, this time, it would again take five days to get results. While Covid testing is much easier to come by than it was early in the pandemic , the ability to get a test — and timely results — can vary widely nationwide.
A fragmented testing system, complicated logistics, technician burnout and squirrelly spikes in demand contribute to the bumpy ride. Unpredictable waits can be a problem for those trying to plan travel, return to school from quarantine — or even get lifesaving monoclonal antibody treatment within the optimal window if they do have Covid.
But people are also facing problems getting molecular testing, including the gold-standard PCR tests. Public health labs are no longer hamstrung by supply bottlenecks for individual test components, such as swabs or reagents, said Kelly Wroblewski, the director of infectious disease programs for the Association of Public Health Laboratories. But they are still bearing large testing loads, which she had expected to shift more to commercial or hospital-based labs by now.
For full coverage of the coronavirus pandemic. Even in a place like Longmont, Colorado, near many laboratories and hospitals, PCR samples from the local mass-testing site get shipped by air each evening to a lab in North Carolina.
That mass-testing operation recently moved back to its original location at the county fairgrounds after a summer stint in a small church parking lot. Campbell said it sometimes took residents four or five days to get their PCR results, although that has dropped to two as the contractor, Mako Medical, has built its laboratory capacity back up. Portable devices can now eliminate the need to ship samples. They can do molecular analysis, including PCR analyses, in under an hour — a process that typically takes at least four to five hours in a lab.
A Washington, D. Combined, they can give a dozen people PCR results in under an hour, at no cost to test-takers. Still, demand outweighs supply for such fast molecular tests, largely because of the roller coaster of case surges, said Doug Sharpe, the vice president of lab capital sales for Medline Industries , which supplies Covid testing components to labs across the country. The company offers other tests, such as antigen tests and slower lab-based PCR tests, at no out-of-pocket cost.
Celeste Di Iorio felt fleeced after she spent a day driving from pharmacy to pharmacy in Fort Collins, Colorado, in search of a test that would give an answer in less than three days. As a musician, she had been traveling out of state and wanted to know whether she might be infectious before she attended, among other things, a memorial for a relative who died of Covid.
She and her partner eventually found rapid antigen tests at a pharmacy two cities over. In Helena, Montana, Stanfel has gotten a PCR test every week for many months because she takes immune-suppressing drugs for a rare condition called sarcoidosis. It took five days to learn that she had tested negative. It has had to prioritize tests from hospitalized or symptomatic people and send other specimens to private labs, a process that can stretch the wait time for results to up to seven days.
In New York City, where mobile-testing vans are parked in every borough and in-person home testing is offered, residents report quick turnarounds for molecular tests because the labs analyzing their samples are close by.
Aspinall said flu season is likely to lead to an increase in demand for Covid testing as people with Covid-like symptoms seek answers about the causes of their illnesses, compounding staffing issues.
Actress Kim Cattrall, 65, seemingly commented on the rift between herself and former "Sex and the City" co-star Sarah Jessica Parker with a sassy bathing suit photo. The four days of festivities ended with the royal family watching the Platinum Jubilee pageant parade through London.
Ever noticed those little black dots on your car windshield? Here's why they're important. Umpires barred Dodgers manager Dave Roberts from using a position player to pitch the ninth inning against the New York Mets on Saturday night, enforcing a rule that prevents teams from using non-pitchers with a deficit of five runs or fewer. Subscribe here to get it in your inbox every Sunday.
The statement was released after the monarch appeared in a surprise, concluding appearance on the Buckingham Palace balcony after being physically absent from most. It looks like Queen Elizabeth' s historic year reign isn't the only milestone that the royals are celebrating this weekend.
In case you missed it, Prince Harry reportedly looks "deeply unhappy" as he attends Queen Elizabeth's Platinum Jubilee, a royal expert claims.
This marks the first public event for Harry and Meghan Markle since they left the U. Sonya Curry, 56, and Dell Curry, 57, divorced in November after 33 years of marriage. Each accused the other of infidelity. A network of trail cameras in Alberta, Canada, captured an extraordinary scene recently involving wild horses running for their lives from a grizzly bear. Experts say there may be many brown recluse spiders in your home, and you may see them more this summer. When the royal family gathered for Trooping the Colour on Thursday, June 2, all eyes were on 4-year-old Prince Louis, who caught everyone's Meghan Markle and Prince Harry were met with a mixed reaction from the public at their first royal event since their step back in The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge and their children have been baking cakes for a Platinum Jubilee street party set to take place in Cardiff on Sunday afternoon.
Most working-age Americans who died of COVID during the first year of the pandemic were so-called essential workers in labor, service and retail jobs that required on-site attendance and prolonged contact with others, according to a recently published study led by a University of South Florida epidemiologist. Stuck behind Hamlin […]. Close this content. Read full article.
Story continues. Our goal is to create a safe and engaging place for users to connect over interests and passions. In order to improve our community experience, we are temporarily suspending article commenting. Recommended Stories. Yahoo Life. Associated Press. The Daily Beast. Fox News. FTW Outdoors. Wichita Eagle. The Telegraph. Miami Herald. The Wrap.
Comments
Post a Comment