Rush for COVID tests ahead of Christmas travel

NEWTOWN SQUARE - People are racing the clock to get COVID test results in time for holiday travel and keeping places like PrimBio Research Institute in Newtown Square busy. 

"I haven’t seen my parents in two years. So, I can’t wait," said Diana Mann. 

She’s planning to go to Canada to see her parents for Christmas, but she needs a 72-hour PCR test to cross the border. And she wants to make sure she doesn't have COVID, so she doesn't expose them. 

"My parents are in their 80s. We’re all fully vaccinated. In fact, in the last week, we’ve all be scrambling to get our boosters. The only one left is my dad who needs it," said Mann. 

"We’ve seen a pretty massive influx of people coming in," said David Ye. He says before the holiday they processed up to 275 COVID tests a day. But this week it soared. 

"Yesterday we had around 577 samples, so it quite literally doubled what we were originally expecting. We’ve been here all night. Essentially last night I was here until 3 a.m. registering people with another coworker and people in the labs getting experiments done," he said. 

Ye says usually there's about a 24-hour turnaround for results but it maybe a little longer due to the high demand Christmas week 

"So, if you wanted to get your samples back by Saturday you could probably come in on Thursday and get your results back by Friday night," said ye.  

Mann is anxiously awaiting her results and already emotional about making sure it's safe to see mom and dad. 

"I would hate to be the person that gave it to them. They’re healthy, but you never know," she said. 

If you wish to make an appointment, please click here. If you have questions, you can contact primbiobiz@primbioresearch.com, 484-873-2988 or 267-995-7621.

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