COVID testing labs feel more 'normal' prompting concern from officials
Scott Nunn, Scott Nunn, Huron Daily Tribune
April 9, 2021
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A worker at the Michigan state diagnostic laboratory processes a test. (Michigan Department of Health and Human Services/Courtesy Photo)
Daily coronavirus cases in Michigan have shot up over the last few weeks, but the number of diagnostic tests run for the virus has risen much more slowly.
The average number of new daily cases of the virus has more than doubled since Feb. 18, but testing has only increased about 10%.
Jacqueline Peacock is the director of laboratory operations at NxGen MDx, a diagnostic lab in Grand Rapids that processes samples from across Michigan’s Lower Peninsula. She used to work until 2 a.m. and barely had time to eat most days during the peak of local outbreaks this winter, she said.