Many Mainers are waiting two weeks for COVID-19 test results. The delays are caused in part by the surge in cases in South and Southwestern states overwhelming national labs, according to the Press Herald.
Maine health care providers use labs like New Jersey’s Quest Diagnostics and LabCorp in North Carolina for COVID-19 test processing. A spokesperson for Southern Maine’s InterMed told the paper it is seeing 12-day delays.
Some providers in the state, such as MaineHealth and Northern Light Health, can process tests in-house and do not face the same delays.
Some doctors have expressed concern that the national testing delays mean out-of-state visitors are not receiving accurate information prior to traveling.