New Hampshire residents wait for days for results of COVID-19 tests

PORTSMOUTH, N.H. —

Some New Hampshire residents are waiting a week or more for COVID-19 test results from state-run sites.

Between the omicron variant, holiday exposures and requirements for returning to work and school, testing demand has doubled in recent weeks. The increase in demand is creating a backlog at many labs that process the tests.

Kathy Foytho said she and her sister got tested together at the state-run site in Nashua on Dec. 31. She said they were told to call after 72 hours if they hadn't received results.

"The people on the phone were very nice, no point in getting upset with them," she said. "They did end up telling me that was the norm right now, that long wait."

She said her sister needed results to return to work.

"Six days for myself, eight days for my sister," she said.

A student who tested at the site in Newington last week said he needs results to return to college out of state. He canceled his Sunday flight and is still waiting.

In a statement to News 9, the Department of Health and Human Services said that in the past five weeks, the demand for testing has doubled at the state-run sites. Officials said they are working with their contractor and lab to decrease the wait time to 48 hours by onboarding additional staff members and are looking at ways to expand testing.

In the meantime, there are other testing options.

"I think it's 98% of the time over the last two weeks, I just checked, we are returning results within 24 hours of sampling," said Mark Pundt, president of ConvenientMD Urgent Care.