About 1,000 COVID-19 tests are being processed daily by the Clinical Microbiology Laboratory at New York-Presbyterian/Columbia University Irving Medical Center.

Across the New York-Presbyterian system, approximately 2,400 tests can be run daily, and the capacity can be increased if needed to test more patients and health care workers.

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“This system is a huge advance in testing. The new test and the automated system reduce the time it takes our lab to process and report coronavirus tests from 12-24 hours down to as little as four hours,” says Kevin Roth, MD, PhD, chair of pathology & cell biology at Columbia University Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons

The Columbia University Irving Medical Center lab is also processing about 50 tests a day to look for antibodies in the blood of people who have recovered from the coronavirus.

According to the university, people who have been exposed to the virus and produce antibodies may be able to donate serum to help others battle the disease.

Several additional tests designed by scientists at Columbia University to detect SARS-CoV-2 antibodies are currently undergoing validation in the laboratory. The university says samples could be run with these tests as early as next week, pending Department of Health approval.