Stanford Medicine Surpasses 1 Million COVID-19 PCR Tests: Report

PALO ALTO, CA — Stanford Medicine reached a milestone earlier this month by processing its 1 millionth COVID-19 PCR test.

That included 20,000 tests in seven days during the height of the recent omicron surge, according to a Stanford News article. In total, it’s taken nearly 80,000 hours of work for a laboratory group to work through the tests

“Laboratory staff have worked incredibly hard throughout the pandemic,” said Benjamin Pinsky, medical director of the clinical virology laboratory, said to Stanford News. “The demands of the past two years have been relentless, but they have been so resilient and determined to deliver the timely results needed to appropriately care for our patients while also protecting those caring for them. They are the real stars of this story.”

Stanford Medicine was among the first academic medical centers to receive FDA authorization for its PCR test. It was initially intended to be used only by Stanford’s hospital patients, but was quickly expanded as the virus continued to spread.

The initial group of 20 laboratory staffers soon expanded to 60 people, with around-the-clock coverage.

“This milestone represents a lot of blood, sweat and tears,” said Jennifer Fralick, administrative director of laboratory services, in the article.

Click here to read more in Stanford News.