Bergen New Bridge Expands COVID Variant Testing

PARAMUS, NJ — Bergen New Bridge Medical Center has expanded its variant testing this week to include 22 relevant COVID-19 mutations, hospital officials announced.

The hospital's laboratory started using a custom-built analysis panel within the Applied Biosystems TaqMan SARS-CoV-2 test in its in-house lab. This means that the hospital can adapt testing quickly as additional mutations and variants emerge.

"Within two hours, we can discern which variant infected a patient and determine an appropriate course of action for care," said Bergen New Bridge Medical Center President and CEO, Deborah Visconi.

"Our lab can process over 2,000 samples per day and this is critical because with such a high rate of the virus within our communities, it is important for everyone to get tested and to do so frequently so we can identify trends in infections and improve our ability to beat back the virus and emerge from this pandemic."

New data shows New Jersey wedged inside a new COVID-19 hot zone, and it's currently ranked second in the U.S. in coronavirus cases per capita over the past week, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Read more: NJ In New CDC Coronavirus Hot Zone: 2nd Highest Case Rate In U.S.

Gov. Phil Murphy believes the spread of the COVID-19 variants has kept the state's cases high, even though New Jersey recently had two days in a row with fewer than 3,000 new cases for the first time in months.

It's not clear how many variant cases are in New Jersey, though Murphy has said in recent weeks that there are at least 700.

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