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COVID test capacity to expand by 10K per day through new partnership: Gov. Kemp

The governor's office also suggests this will shorten wait times for results in Georgia.

ATLANTA — More COVID-19 tests and shorter wait times are the expected outcomes from a new partnership with a North Carolina-based lab, Gov. Kemp's office announced on Monday.

The governor announced that Mako Medical has entered into an agreement with Georgia to provide testing supplies and services to process 10,000 COVID-19 polymerase chain reaction (PCR) tests per day.

As more Georgians begin to notice increased wait times for their results, Kemp's office said this is part of his goal to shorten them while also expanding testing in the state.

"Georgia has dramatically expanded testing since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic," said Governor Kemp.

Kemp also said that many private labs have been unable to process tests quickly enough, across the country, to aid in contact tracing due to the sheer demand for the tests.

"With some Georgians waiting well over a week for their results, the status quo is unacceptable," he said in a statement released on Monday afternoon.

Georgia Public Health Commissioner Kathleen Toomey said the new partnership with Mako Medical will enable the state's "army of contact tracers" to respond more quickly to identify new cases.

Mako Medical's chief operating officer, Josh Arant, said the company reserved capacity for the state to maintain an average 48-hour turnaround for results.

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