Testing demand up during delta surge
Demand for coronavirus testing has increased significantly due to the ultra-contagious delta variant, and the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard is processing nearly 100,000 tests on some days, numbers that haven’t been seen since May.
The Broad Institute processed more than 89,000 coronavirus tests on Thursday, the highest tally of the week, and the most tests since May 11, when 97,000 were completed.
Demand for tests started to spike in early August, according to a Broad Institute real-time dashboard. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention had identified the delta variant as predominant on Aug. 6, and it’s remained so since.
Daily tests in early July, when coronavirus rates were still relatively low, hovered between 10,000 and 25,000 per day.
The peak testing demand for the Broad Institute came during April of this year, when on the 6th of the month they processed 148,000 test in one day.
The institute created a new automated system for COVID-19 tests, and works with hospitals, clinics, nursing homes, homeless shelters, and schools across the state to provide quick and accurate testing.
Turnaround time for results, even as demand had increased, has been 24 hours from the time the sample reaches the lab to the result, according to a spokeswoman.
The Broad Institute has processed more than 21 million coronavirus tests since the pandemic began. The cumulative test positive rate is 2%, while the latest seven-day rolling average is 1.2%.
Many state and city-sponsored testing sites had scaled back early this summer as residents became fully vaccinated and case rates plummeted. But now as the delta variant infects even fully vaccinated people, the demand for testing has returned.
Fully vaccinated people who become infected are much less likely to get a severe coronavirus case or become hospitalized.
Coronavirus testing has improved dramatically since the start of the pandemic. Coronavirus testing has entered the commercial market too, with people able to buy an at-home rapid test at most drug stores such as CVS.
Testing protocols have also recently changed for certain large event venues, schools, workplaces and travel.
Some organizations require proof of vaccination or a negative coronavirus test, while in other circumstances, such as international travel, people may be required to show both. The advance of the delta variant led Boston Acting Mayor Kim Janey to re-implement an indoor mask mandate.