Increased waiting time for COVID-19 test results is consistent with increased prevalence of youth

That’s about twice as fast as the country’s major laboratories, and this month we’ve revised the expected turnaround time up to a week or more due to a surge in cases across the country. Earlier this week, de Blasio said that “randomness” across the country reduced test results in New York, with approximately 40,000 people being tested daily.

Potentially extended wait times indicate that the virus is more likely to be a young adult, asymptomatic or mild illness, and is more cautious about social distance and other precautions Demographics Came at the fastest spreading moment of. Some of the most vicious examples of people ignoring the mask order and distance guidelines in New York City were the crowds of young people, especially around bars, restaurants and parks in Manhattan.

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According to data from the New York City Department of Health, total infections in New York City between the ages of 18 and 44 increased three times faster than those in people over the age of 65 in the first two weeks of the month. Hospitalizations between the ages of 18 and 44 increased approximately twice as fast as those over the age of 65 during that period.

As in other parts of the country, many of the cases are most likely to be in people in their twenties, Debrascio targeted this demographic in messaging this week to implement and test preventative measures. He said he announced the campaign. Incidents in 20s are increasing rapidly The financial district, Greenwich Village and Lincoln Square are all located in Manhattan.

“We knew this would be more difficult for young people,” Dr. Jay Valma, senior mayor’s adviser on Wednesday, called the phenomenon “epidemic fatigue.”

“The individual risk of getting a serious illness is low, but they have to sacrifice a lot,” Varma said.

The challenge of quarantining at home while waiting for test results increases with the time it takes to get the results back. of Contract tracking challenges It also grows if the person who finally positives spends more than a week after leaving home before receiving the results.

According to Debrascio, the city’s public health + hospital system in dozens of places with free carry-on tests provides the shortest turnaround time. The city said the city is pushing for “laboratory enhancements,” but the email sent to the hospital system asking for comment as to why it could provide a faster test was not immediately returned ..

Inevitably, some New Yorkers wait longer than others, sometimes twice as much as they did a month ago. Prior to the surge in the United States, many of the city’s private clinics were flooded with national laboratories sending inspections.

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In late April, when New York City was still a major hotspot in America, WalkMD Clinic’s CityMD sent an email to the patient, whose branch eventually received sufficient testing for those who needed it. I said. According to email, results will be expected in 3-5 days. Nowadays, chains based in New York and northern New Jersey have had to update the turnaround times on the websites and signs of more than 120 branch offices, said Joy Lee-Calio, a spokeswoman for CityMD’s parent company Summit Medical. He says. group.

“We are telling all COVID-19 test patients to expect a minimum 7-day turnaround time for test results, based on guidance from domestic lab partners,” she said in an email. It was. “If you can speed up the process, you’ll be right.”

Indeed, two of America’s largest commercial laboratories, the Laboratory Corporation of America.
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And quest diagnosis,
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With a total of 1.7 million tests processed per week, the time required has almost doubled since mid-June.

A month ago, Quest had an average wait time of 2-3 days to process a diagnostic test. On Monday, the company said it would update its guidance to more than seven days and is working on increasing capacity by 20% by the end of July to address the surge in US incidents.

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“As long as the number of COVID-19 cases continues to grow dramatically, we will not be in a position to reduce turnaround times,” the company said in a news release on Monday.

The Northwell Health Labs, which process thousands of tests a day in their in-house laboratories, typically change asymptomatic or mild screening within 3 days, but one of many Northwell hospitals in New York State. Patients undergoing emergency treatment on three days will have results within hours, Dr. Dwayne Brenning said.

“Depending on clinical acuity, there are multiple stages of turnaround time,” Breining said.

However, Breening admitted that certain dependencies, such as supply chains, could impact the national level, and in some cases could result in waiting times longer than 3 days.