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Coronavirus Test Results Now Take a Week or Longer for Many Patients: Quest Diagnostics

The lab company attributed the wait time to surges in coronavirus cases.

Quest Diagnostics announced Monday that non-priority coronavirus patients are waiting an average of seven or more days for their test results, attributing the wait time to the surge of cases nationwide. “We will not be in a position to reduce our turnaround times as long as cases of COVID-19 continue to increase dramatically across much of the United States,” the laboratory company said. “This is not just a Quest issue. The surge in COVID-19 cases affects the laboratory industry as a whole.” The company said it currently has the capacity to perform 125,000 tests daily, twice what its capacity had been eight weeks prior. The announcement comes as the United States faces surges in new coronavirus cases, with Florida marking a new record in cases over the weekend.