That line from Charles Dickens’ A Tale of Two Cities about the best of times and the worst of times is especially apt with what testing laboratories in the US and around the world are experiencing. For laboratories performing COVID-19 testing, it is the best of times, with test volumes running at unprecedented levels. For other laboratories that lack the capabilities for COVID-19, it is just like being in the restaurant, travel, retail and other businesses hemorrhaging revenues as a result of pandemic disruption. And while cancer and other acute care laboratories are still carrying on, the laboratories suffering the most are the ones that perform routine and elective tests that most consumers are putting off until the COVID-19 crisis ends. ¢oronaviru$ Economics Smaller regional and community laboratories, particularly, are facing challenges. According to National Independent Laboratory Association (NILA) Administrator Mark Birenbaum based on conversations with NILA members, many of these laboratories are reporting drops in testing volume ranging between 40% to 90%. Laboratories which do primarily “non-essential” testing, he says, are seeing drops between 60 to 90%, while laboratories with clients that do “essential” testing are enduring drops of around 40%. Certain specialty laboratories, like those serving the in vitro fertilization […]