This undated photo provided by U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention shows CDC’s laboratory test kit for the new coronavirus.
CDC / AP Photo
Pennsylvania says it is speeding up coronavirus testing
The lab can now handle about 25 samples a day and that rate should increase soon.
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The Associated Press
CDC / AP Photo
This undated photo provided by U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention shows CDC’s laboratory test kit for the new coronavirus.
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What you should know
» Map: Where the virus has spread
» What we know about the outbreak
» How to prepare your home for coronavirus
» Coronavirus FAQs
(Harrisburg) — A Pennsylvania state laboratory is improving its ability to handle samples that it is testing for the new coronavirus that is sickening people across the globe, state health officials said Wednesday.
The lab can now handle about 25 samples a day and that rate should increase in the coming days after it gets a piece of equipment, an extractor, that boosts its testing capacity, a Department of Health spokesman said.
There have been no confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Pennsylvania, where testing and tracking began about a month ago, officials said. The Department of Health is not releasing any information about who it has tested or the number of tests it has performed, spokesman Nate Wardle said.
Ted S. Warren / AP Photo
A sign on a shelf at a QFC grocery store in Kirkland, Wash., advises shoppers Tuesday, March 3, 2020 that all hand sanitizer products are sold out. Fear of the coronavirus has led people to stock up on the germ-killing gel, leaving store shelves empty and online retailers with sky-high prices set by those trying to profit on the rush. The store is located near the Life Care Center of Kirkland, which has been tied to several cases of the COVID-19 coronavirus.
Hospital and state officials in Pennsylvania are encouraging people who fear they may have contracted coronavirus to call their doctor or hospital, rather than go to an emergency room. Those health care workers can determine the next steps and take a sample if testing is necessary.
Health Secretary Dr. Rachel Levine has said private labs are also likely to soon get federal permission to perform testing.
The U.S. death toll from the coronavirus climbed to 11 on Wednesday, with one in California and 10 in Washington state.
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