About 64% of coronavirus tests in California are pending in what is reportedly the worst backlog of tests in the country

Delayed test results make it difficult to pinpoint an accurate case count and to fight the coronavirus outbreak in the state overall.
California was one of the first regions in the US to institute a stay-at-home order, and some local health experts believe that early measures taken to enforce social distancing may be working.
However, it's difficult to make that conclusion with so many unprocessed tests.
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Roughly 64% of tests conducted for the coronavirus disease in the state of California are currently unprocessed.

Out of the estimated 92,500 tests that California has conducted for the coronavirus disease, 59,500 are still pending, the San Francisco Chronicle reports.

California has grappled with a shortage of testing materials from the get-go, as have other regions in the US and countries around the world. But according to an analysis conducted by Vox based on state testing data, California ranks 39th out of 50 states in the number of tests conducted per capita.

While California does have the largest backlog, only four other states make their testing reports public: New Hampshire, Hawaii, Nebraska, and Florida, the last of which has only 1,280 pending tests, according to the Chronicle.

Gov. Gavin Newsom said that the state is developing a solution to quicken the pace of testing.

"We have a new task force on tests and will provide some good news about our capacity to substantially increase our tests in the state of California," Newsom said according to the Chronicle.

Data, case counts, and hospitalizations are some of the best indicators to gauge how well a region or state is handling their respective outbreaks. That 64% of the California's tests are currently held up means that an it's difficult to pinpoint an accurate case count in the state. Without positive test results, it's also difficult for healthcare workers to determine which patients need to isolate and which do not.

There are currently 11,290 confirmed cases in California, but with results waiting on 59,500 tests, that figure may not be complete. Those numbers are dwarfed by confirmed infection counts in states like New York, which has at least 92,381 cases, but New York has also tested far more people than has California.

California and the San Francisco Bay Area were the first to enforce a stay-at-home order early, on March 19 and March 17, respectively, in an effort to curtail the spread of the coronavirus disease. Tuesday marked two weeks since the San Francisco Bay Area's order went into effect, and though the number of confirmed cases and reported deaths continue to rise, the outbreak isn't as aggressive in the region as it is elsewhere when considering case counts. Some local health experts believe that's due to the early social distancing measures taken.

Even as case counts remain low in the region, officials and health experts agree that it is still vital for residents to heed the shelter-in-place order and continue practicing social distancing to stem the spread of the virus.

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