COVID updates: Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin tests positive

One of the largest testing companies in the country said the jump in COVID-19 tests has led to an increase in time for results.

Quest Diagnostics told ABC News their turnaround time for results has now stretched to two to three days on average. 

Last week, the company said it took a day, on average, to get results.

On Wednesday, Quest told ABC News they were deploying their logistics network, such as its national courier and air fleet, to move specimens around to where there is less inundation and help balance out volume across their roughly two dozen labs.

However, the increase in omicron cases and the busy holiday season led to delays.

Other labs are also experiencing long wait times for results, including CityMD, which said it can take patients up to seven days to get their results.

-ABC News' Sasha Pezenik

New York state has once again broken its single-day COVID-19 case record.

There were 85,476 new cases reported Saturday, according to the governor's office. 

The number of COVID-19 tests administered also increased by over 44,000 in the last 24 hours.

The state's seven-day positivity rate is nearly 20%.

On Friday, Gov. Kathy Hochul announced new measures to target the state's winter COVID-19 surge, including opening more state-run testing sites, distributing rapid tests to schools and increasing vaccination and booster rates among children and nursing home residents.

A report published on Friday by the U.K. Health Security Agency found that people who were infected with the omicron variant had a reduced risk of requiring hospitalization, as compared to people who were infected with the delta variant. 

The risk of hospital admissions among those with omicron was about half of that for delta, researchers found. 

Individuals who had a booster dose were also found to have a "substantial reduction" in the risk of hospitalization, compared to those who are unvaccinated.

Researchers noted that these lower risks do not necessarily correlate to a reduced hospital burden during a COVID-19 surge, particularly given the higher growth rate and immune evasion seen with omicron.

Preliminary analyses also estimated a lower risk of hospitalization among omicron cases in school-aged children 5 to 17 years old, compared to delta cases in the same age group.

-ABC News' Arielle Mitropoulos

Rep. Ayanna Pressley, D-Mass., is the latest lawmaker to test positive for COVID-19. Pressley announced the news Friday afternoon, saying she was experiencing "relatively mild " symptoms and isolating.

She also took the opportunity to say she was vaccinated and boosted and advocate for others to do the same.

"Vaccines save lives," she said in a statement. "With this unprecedented pandemic continuing to rage, I am deeply grateful for the scientists, researchers, and frontline healthcare workers who have worked tirelessly to develop vaccines that are safe and effective, and ensure that our communities are protected."

Pressley, who has garnered national attention as a member of "The Squad" alongside Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Rashida Tlaib and Ilhan Omar, is one of more than a dozen members of Congress to test positive in the past two weeks. Illinois Rep. Chuy Garcia announced Thursday that he had also tested positive for a breakthrough case and was experiencing mild symptoms.