COLUMBUS, Ind. — Indiana’s state-sponsored coronavirus testing sites, including one located in Columbus, have been seeing a slowdown in how fast test results are coming back due to a national increase in demand for test processing and supplies as COVID-19 cases surge across much of the country.
State contractor OptumServe Health Services was expected to have 50 testing sites operating around Indiana by the end of May, providing 100,000 free tests a month and providing results within an average of 48 hours, state officials said.
Over the past week, however, the average turnaround time for COVID-19 test results at these sites has increased to “just under 64 hours” compared to the 52-hour average turnaround time since May 6, said Indiana State Health Department spokeswoman Megan Wade-Taxter.
State officials have blamed the slower results on a nationwide increase in demand for test processing and supplies at two third-party labs OptumServe uses to analyze specimens – LabCorp and Exact Science.
OptumServe currently operates a testing site at 2160 Arnold St. near Columbus Municipal Airport.
For more on this story, see Thursday’s Republic.
