On Mar. 24, 2020, BioReference Laboratories, an OPKO Health company, announced a collaboration with the City of Miami to provide coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) testing. BioReference will provide COVID-19 testing at drive-through locations for Miami residents by appointment. BioReference will provide testing for drive-through centers in South Florida, Hialeah and Hollywood through a collaboration with Larkin Community Hospital.

“We all are responsible for helping to control the spread of this virus,” said Francis Suarez, Mayor of the City of Miami. “As an individual who tested positive for COVID-19, I have a duty to the City of Miami to bring my city’s residents access to testing and information, and through our partnership with BioReference, we can help address this public health crisis.”

“BioReference continues to prioritize expanding public access to COVID-19 testing across the nation,” said Jon R. Cohen, M.D., Executive Chairman of BioReference Laboratories. “The importance of high-quality, reliable, scalable laboratory tests available is a critical part of the response in the effort to contain COVID-19.”

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), the State of New Jersey and the City of Detroit 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.