Lab Employees Working 12-Hour Shifts to Process COVID Tests As Demand Skyrockets

To meet the continuously rising demand for COVID tests as cases increase around the country, staff at a Connecticut lab have been working 12-hour shifts to process tests and get results out to people as fast as possible.

State data released Wednesday showed over 3,600 new positive cases since Tuesday in Connecticut. Johns Hopkins is reporting that the rolling average of daily new cases in the state has increased by 925 the past two weeks, 59 percent higher than prior weeks.

Mark Kidd, director of Wren Laboratories, where the staff is working 12-hour shifts, said demand has "exploded" for tests as people prepare to gather for the holidays. Kidd is also one of two scientists that helped develop a saliva test that is being rolled out at two New Haven locations.

"For us, the most important gift we think that you can give anyone right now is the gift of a negative test," Kidd said Wednesday during a news conference.

Just over 69 percent of Connecticut residents were vaccinated as of Dec. 15, according to state data.

Unvaccinated residents of the state are about five times as likely as vaccinated individuals to contract COVID, and about 20 times more likely to die from it, according to state health department data published in The Day, a New London, Connecticut newspaper.

New Haven officials also opened a second saliva testing site on the New Haven Green, in addition to other existing testing locations in the city.

Officials from the city of Bridgeport on Wednesday urged residents to get a free test at the North Branch Library and not wait in long lines at other locations.

In Waterford, for example, a weekly drive-thru testing site at the local library on Wednesday had to turn people away because the line had gotten too long and became a traffic hazard, The Day of New London reported.

Stephen Mansfield, director of the Ledge Light Health District in eastern Connecticut, told The Day that turning people away "has not been uncommon and unfortunately it will likely be common in the future."

"It's not a matter of resources in terms of test kits, it's just that the demand for testing has gone up exponentially in the past few weeks," he said.

Meanwhile, Yale New Haven Health announced Wednesday that all visitors planning to see admitted patients will have to show proof they've been fully vaccinated or a negative PCR test. The change to the visitation policy, which takes effect on Thursday at 8 a.m., stems from the increased number of COVID-19 cases.

Patients will also be allowed only one visitor per day and that visitor must be 18 years or older.

Nuvance Health, which operates hospitals in Danbury, Sharon, New Milford and Norwalk, also plans to impose new restrictions on visitations, beginning Thursday. Visitation hours for inpatients will be restricted to a maximum of four hours and limited to one support person per day for patients not suspected or confirmed to have COVID-19.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.