COVID-19 testing capacity in US hard to meet surging demand in autumn: media

WASHINGTON -- A US testing giant has said that it will not be possible to boost coronavirus testing capacity to meet the surging demand in the flu season in autumn, according to media reports.

James Davis, executive vice president at US clinical laboratory Quest Diagnostics, was quoted by business daily the Financial Times earlier this week as saying that there is "no way that PCR (polymerase chain reaction) capacity is going to double in the next three months."

In addition, "long delays in processing test results ... are exacerbating the situation and the time lag is expected to worsen in the autumn, when millions of Americans catch common colds and the flu," the report said.

The report noted that Davis' remarks came as major testing companies "are already struggling to keep up with demand at a time when 5.5 million tests are being conducted each week."

The United States has been witnessing a resurgence in COVID-19 cases across the country. On Thursday, its caseload passed the 4 million mark with more than 140,000 deaths, according to a tally by Johns Hopkins University.

California has recently surpassed New York to be the hardest-hit state, the data showed. Other states with over 100,000 cases include New York, Florida, Texas, New Jersey, Illinois, and Georgia, to name a few.