On Mar. 23, 2020, BioReference Labs, an OPKO Health company, announced a collaboration with the City of Detroit to provide coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) testing. BioReference will provide COVID-19 testing at drive-through locations for Detroit residents by appointment.

BioReference Laboratories is accepting specimens for COVID-19 testing from healthcare providers, clinics and health systems throughout the United States to promote earlier diagnosis of the coronavirus and to aid in limiting spread of infection. In addition to its nationwide COVID-19 testing offering, BioReference has partnerships with the New York State Department of Health, the New York City Health and Hospital Corporation (NYC Health + Hospitals) and the State of New Jersey to provide COVID-19 testing.

BioReference is offering a real-time reverse-transcription polymerase chain reaction (real-time RT-PCR) assay with expected 24-48 hour turnaround time. The Novel Coronavirus COVID-19 test has been made available pursuant to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration Emergency Use Authorization for diagnostic testing in CLIA certified high-complexity laboratories. All tests are conducted in BioReference’s main laboratory in Elmwood Park, N.J., which currently has a capacity to run up to 15,000 COVID-19 tests per day.