The U.S. has more COVID-19 testing than most. So why is it falling so short?

FILE PHOTO: Prism Pathology prepares samples before testing for the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) in Dallas, Texas, U.S. June 24, 2020. REUTERS/Cooper Neill/File Photo

(Reuters) - The United States might have more COVID-19 testing capacity than any other country. So why have we seen laboratories overwhelmed and many patients again waiting a week or more for results?

At the heart of the crisis is a reliance by public and private labs on automated testing equipment that locks them in to using proprietary chemical kits and other tools made by a handful of manufacturers.