ORANGE COUNTY, Fla. — As coronavirus case numbers continue to increase in Orange County, more people are getting tested than ever before and it’s causing a huge backlog of test results.
The state said it was telling people to expect their results in 48 to 72 hours, but is now averaging a six-day turnaround.
“Some of the tests are getting late to us in part because of increased volume and it’s creating a bottleneck at the labs,” Dr. Raul Pino said.
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Pino said it’s making it even harder to control the spread of the virus because most people probably aren’t self-isolating like they’re supposed to during that time.
“In my professional opinion, and this is a personal opinion, a test that takes five days in infectious disease to come back, it becomes irrelevant,” he said.
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Channel 9 checked with the state to see if it was addressing the delay.
A spokesperson said the state recently learned its lab Bio-Reference is dealing with a national backlog, so the state is now working with a new lab, Genetworx, to try to prevent more delays.
Cox Media Group