Covid testing, turnaround times still uneven, a problem for many people who need fast results

Why does it still take so long to get Covid test results? Unpredictable waits can be a problem for people trying to plan travel, return to school from quarantine or get lifesaving treatment. NBC News

... While Covid testing is much easier to come by than it was early in the pandemic, the ability to get a test — and timely results — can vary widely nationwide. A fragmented testing system, complicated logistics, technician burnout and squirrelly spikes in demand contribute to the bumpy ride.

The White House said this month that it plans to buy $1 billion worth of rapid antigen tests to help improve access to the hard-to-find over-the-counter kits. But people are also facing problems getting molecular testing, including the gold-standard PCR tests.

Public health labs are no longer hamstrung by supply bottlenecks for individual test components, such as swabs or reagents, said Kelly Wroblewski, the director of infectious disease programs for the Association of Public Health Laboratories. But they are still bearing large testing loads, which she had expected to shift more to commercial or hospital-based labs by now. ...