Prognosis
Testing Bottlenecks Again Grip U.S. With Coronavirus Surge
- Labs grapple with supply shortages as pre-holiday demand rises
- Testing needed with vaccines to take months to slow pandemic
Vehicles wait to enter a drive-thru Covid-19 testing site in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, on Nov. 9.
Photographer: Bing Guan/BloombergThis article is for subscribers only.
A surge in coronavirus cases, paired with rising demand for testing before the holidays and continued supply shortages, are putting renewed pressure on U.S. testing systems.
The American Clinical Laboratory Association, whose members do about half of the country’s testing, said late last week it is seeing a big increase in test orders with the demand expected to continue ahead of Thanksgiving. As a result, turnaround times of around two days could increase as labs reach or exceed their testing capacities in the coming days, the group warned.