Colorado will ramp up its own COVID-19 test processing capabilities in coming weeks to cut back on the time in which results are turned around, with private labs that handle much of the processing currently experiencing massive backlogs that have resulted in it taking up to two weeks for some people to receive their results.
Saying that Colorado “can no longer rely on national testing,” Gov. Jared Polis announced Thursday that the state was working with state hospitals and private labs to be able to process thousands more tests per day than are currently being done and purchasing hundreds of thousands of more test and swab kits that are expected to be delivered by the end of September.
“We’re going to take on more in Colorado. We’re ready for it. We have the ability to do it. We have the resources to do it,” Polis said. “And while it would have been nice to have a national, coordinated strategy, we ain’t going to wait for it.”