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US sees a shortage of Covid test kits and delay in results
Updated On: 09 January, 2022 07:33 AM IST | Los Angeles | Agencies
Due to increase in testing, a lab in California is taking nine days to return results which is longer than someone exposed to COVID-19 may have to quarantine
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Healthcare workers process Covid-19 rapid antigen tests at a testing site in Long Beach, California. Pic/AP
The difficulty in finding Coronavirus test kits in many parts of California and delays in getting results are causing increasing frustration and contributing to the surge of infections. In just two weeks more than doubled the number of people in hospitals with Covid-19. Negative test results can be a necessity for any number of activities, from going to work to boarding an airplane or attending a sporting event. Delays in getting results—or inability to find a test kit—can mean people with very mild or no symptoms may presume they are not infected and go about their usual routines.
“If you are tested and you’re positive, then you know you need to isolate,” said Abraar Karan, an infectious diseases doctor at Stanford University. “If you can’t get tested, and you don’t have the luxury to just quarantine without knowing, sure, you may have people going out and infecting others.” The surge in cases in California has led to a soaring demand for tests that in many places simply can’t be found. Some county mail-in testing programmes have been halted due to exploding demand. In places where tests are available, people sometimes have to wait in line for several hours.
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