South Africa reports big delays in test results

South Africa's overall number of tests conducted has dropped since mid-May, also likely reflecting shortages. The African continent overall has more than 225,000 cases.

South Africa says the average delay in obtaining coronavirus test results from public labs has risen to 12 days amid backlogs and shortages of testing materials. South Africa represents well over a quarter of Africa's virus cases, with more than 61,000. The country has conducted about a third of the virus tests in Africa, and countries with fewer resources could face similar delays or worse.

The longer it takes to confirm a positive case, the greater the risk that an infected person is unknowingly spreading the virus. South Africa's latest weekly report by the National Institute of Communicable Diseases, issued late Friday and ending June 6, says the average time to process tests at public labs has grown from a little over two days a month ago.

Public labs earlier were handling three-fourths of coronavirus testing but that dropped to just over one-fourth as of June 6. Turnaround time in testing by private labs is less than two days. South Africa's overall number of tests conducted has dropped since mid-May, also likely reflecting shortages. The African continent overall has more than 225,000 cases.