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Governor plans to more than double California's COVID-19 testing capacity

This new partnership will decrease both the cost and turnaround time of tests, while also helping to combat influenza as flu season approaches

SAN DIEGO — Governor Gavin Newsom unveiled an ambitious new plan Wednesday to more than double the state's capacity to conduct COVID-19 testing, promising to decrease both the turnaround time for results, as well as the cost. 

Under the plan, a new lab will be built over the next eight to 10 weeks and will be fully equipped to run an additional 150,000 Coronavirus tests daily, bringing the state's overall capacity to a quarter-million tests every day.

"This is a game-changer for us," said California Assembly Member Jim Wood. 

"We are now moving forward in a different direction," said Newsom, as he detailed this new venture. 

On Wednesday, he unveiled a new partnership with the medical diagnostics company PerkinElmer which will increase the state's current testing capacity by 150%.

The contract with the Massachusetts-based firm will initially cost the state $100 million, with a maximum amount of $1.4 billion.

The project will also leverage the state's "market muscle" to bring the cost down to as little as about $31 per test, depending on how many tests are conducted at one time

"Had the federal government done this some time ago, you wouldn't see the average cost of tests at $150 to $200, costing taxpayers quite literally tens of billions of dollars," Newsom said. 

As the cost decreases, so will the wait time to get results, which under this new contract are guaranteed to be no more than 48 hours.

"Our goal is to get it down to 24 hours," said Dr. Mark Ghaly, secretary of the California Health and Human Services Agency> "This means that results get in the hands of counties, people doing disease investigation and contact tracing more quickly so that it is more meaningful."

"Each and every day is a precious day in terms of test results," Newsom added. 

The governor also highlighted that this partnership will include - at no extra cost - influenza testing as we head into flu season.

"Time for flu season, of course, places tremendous stress and demand for testing," Newsom said.  

Some state health leaders have warned of the so-called "twindemic" of COVID and the flu, and have been urging everyone who can to get their flu shot.

"As we're approaching the fall, flu is going to rise," said State Senator Richard Pan. "The symptoms are very similar. As a doctor, I'll tell you, it is going to be hard to tell the difference, but being able to have a test at no additional cost to be able to tell us whether somebody had COVID, the flu, or both is going to be very important diagnostically." 

This statewide push to increase testing capacity comes as the CDC rolled out revised guidelines on testing earlier this week, advising that people who show no COVID symptoms do not need to be tested, even if they have been in close contact with an infected person.

"I don't agree with the new CDC guidance, period. Full stop," Newsom said Wednesday. "And it is not the policy in the state of California."

Governor Newsom also promised to unveil on Friday new, more restrictive guidelines the state has developed in re-opening businesses, although he offered no timeline as to when those re-openings may occur. 

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