Rapid COVID-19 testing becoming more accurate, available in Allegheny County

PITTSBURGH — While most of the attention related to COVID-19 efforts is on the vaccine rollout, some experts are focused on testing.

Most testing is still done through a PCR test, which is sent to a lab for results.

Quest Diagnostics, one of the largest labs nationwide, put turnaround times at less than two days from specimen pickup.

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That’s much better than earlier in the pandemic, but experts are looking for improvement in areas like rapid testing, which can still be hard to find.

“The more testing we have, the better we can contain the virus,” said Allegheny County health director, Dr. Debra Bogen, during her weekly COVID-19 update on Wednesday.

That gap could be filled with rapid tests, which are getting far more accurate.

GS Labs specializes in rapid testing and recently opened locations in the North Hills and Upper St. Clair in part due to what they saw as a lack of rapid testing. It said its tests are 88% effective.

Cox Media Group