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Coping with COVID: Clinical Reference Laboratory in Lenexa increases testing

The laboratory has increased its rate of testing for COVID-19 saliva samples, testing around 6,000 every day in a process that takes five hours to complete with a 24 to 48-hour turnaround time on results.

One Kansas City metro facility has been hard at work processing COVID-19 samples, working with a different kind of sampling process that collects saliva rather than swabs.

Lenexa-based Clinical Reference Laboratory has been testing around 6,000 saliva samples every day, the testing process said to take about five hours to complete.

The five-hour process is due to the three steps the laboratory uses in order to effectively conduct tests.

“It’s really taking the needle out of a haystack. We are taking out all the junk that is in the saliva, making it a pure sample,” Heather Fehling, chief scientific officer of molecular diagnostics, said to 41 Action News.

According to the laboratory, results typically appear with 24 to 48 hours, though they can appear as soon as 14 hours.

Fehling said that one the entire process is complete, a notification is sent to clients through an app.

A considerably quick and effortless process for individuals, the saliva sample method of detecting COVID-19 has gained popularity as all that is required is sending in a vial of saliva to the laboratory, provided through a testing kit.