California launches task force to deal with staggering testing backlog

A medical professional administers a coronavirus (COVID-19) test during a drive-thru testing station on March 26, 2020 in Daly City, California. A medical professional administers a coronavirus (COVID-19) test during a drive-thru testing station on March 26, 2020 in Daly City, California. Photo: Justin Sullivan/Getty Images Photo: Justin Sullivan/Getty Images Image 1 of / 49 Caption Close California launches task force to deal with staggering testing backlog 1 / 49 Back to Gallery

Of the 92,500 COVID-19 tests conducted in California through Thursday, results are still pending for a whopping 59,500.

Data from the state's Department of Public Health shared by the Covid Tracking Project shows that California has the nation's highest-reported backlog of coronavirus tests, with nearly 65 percent of tests still unreturned.

Only four other states (Florida, New Hampshire, Hawaii and Nebraska) are reporting the number of pending tests, but the state with the second-highest number of unreturned tests is Florida at just 1,285.

During a Thursday news conference, California Gov. Gavin Newsom announced that his state is launching a "testing task force" to deal with the backlog and increase general testing capacity. Specifics have yet to be revealed, but the governor stated the solution would be "best in class."

The backlog can be partially explained by the struggles of Quest Diagnostics, a commercial lab that announced Wednesday that it has 115,000 tests pending at its 12 labs. The firm did not state how many of those tests were from California.

Nationally, California ranks just 38th out of 50 states in tests per capita, with just 2,281 tests conducted per 1 million people.

MORE CORONAVIRUS COVERAGE:

Sign up for 'The Daily' newsletter for the latest on coronavirus here.

Eric Ting is an SFGATE digital reporter. Email: eric.ting@sfgate.com | Twitter:@_ericting