Hawaii now has the capacity to conduct more than 3,600 COVID-19 tests per day, state officials announced Thursday.
Hawaii now has the capacity to conduct more than 3,600 COVID-19 tests per day, state officials announced Thursday.
In the past three weeks, the number of sites conducting tests has increased from five to 11, and testing is now available in all four counties and on all islands. Test results are typically available within 48 hours.
As of Monday, Hawaii had more than 38,300 tests on hand for COVID-19 tests and was performing an average of 690 tests each day, with test results available the same day or by the next day, according to data compiled by Department of Health. The maximum turn-around time is three days.
The number of staff trained to perform the tests has also doubled, jumping from 68 to 135 within the past month, according to the department.
“The compilation of data provides a realistic snapshot of the state’s overall testing capacity,” said Dr. Edward Desmond, State Laboratories Division (SLD) administrator. “If necessary, the state has the capability to cumulatively ramp up to 3,620 tests a day, and this number is expected to significantly increase over the next three weeks.”
In addition to the state lab, 10 laboratories (three public health and seven private sector) and health care facilities on Oahu and the neighbor islands are testing collected specimens. Private laboratories include Clinical Labs of Hawaii, Diagnostic Laboratory Services, and S&G Labs in Kona. Health care facilities include Kaiser Permanente and Adventist Health Castle.
