California moves to speed COVID-19 test results, cut costs with new lab contract

Gov. Gavin Newsom on Wednesday announced a new contract with a medical diagnostics company he says will allow California to more than double its coronavirus testing capacity, get results faster and cut costs.

He described the contract with Massachusetts-based PerkinElmer as a “new approach that we are pursuing in an effort to disrupt the testing market.”

The contract calls for a 24-48 hour turnaround time for test results, Newsom said. Currently, it takes on average five to seven days for someone to receive results in California.

The state conducts more than 100,000 tests per day, Newsom said. This contract would add 150,000 more per day.

Newsom at the press conference said he and his family have been tested for the coronavirus, and that the results were negative. He said he initially held off on getting tested to avoid taking resources from people who needed testing more urgently, but decided to get tested before visiting a state prison.

The new testing deal is aimed in part at reducing test prices. Testing costs average between $150 and $200 per test, which Newsom called an “extraordinary cost” considering the nearly 11 million tests the state has conducted.

Under the new contract, the cost for laboratories to process the tests will drop to between $30 and $48 dollars per test, said Health and Human Services Secretary Dr. Mark Ghaly.

The announcement comes in advance of flu season, which Newsom noted will drive up the demand for COVID-19 testing as more people develop coughs and fevers. Widespread testing is essential to the state’s efforts to combat the coronavirus, and fast turnaround time for results determines whether quarantining and contact tracing are effective.

“Building our testing capacity is an essential step to us moving forward,” said state Sen. Richard Pan, D-Sacramento, whom Newsom credited with helping secure the contract.

Newsom said he will make the contract public, but it was not yet available as he made his announcement. He said it will take eight to 10 weeks for the testing under the contract to begin and that the company has to build a new lab.

This story was originally published August 26, 2020 at 3:25 PM with the headline "California moves to speed COVID-19 test results, cut costs with new lab contract."