Representatives of the Utah Department of Health presented a COVID-19 update to the Legislature’s Health and Human Services Interim Committee on Nov. 18
Heather Borski, director of the Division of Disease Control and Prevention, spoke about the dramatic increase in testing and contact tracing and about how the Utah Public Health Lab has adapted to that demand.
Borski noted that in March the lab was testing 100 COVID-19 specimens per day and in no more than a couple months, it was testing 10 times that number, averaging 1,000 samples per day. In the past month, the lab has been averaging 2,500 tests a day, surging to 3,000 on occasion.
Borski commended the modernization that has happened in the lab to improve efficiency and accuracy with testing and contact tracing. Committee members expressed their gratitude for the front-line workers at the Utah Public Health Lab who are working tirelessly to manage the pandemic.