Vehicles wait in line for Covid-19 testing at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles on July 7, 2020. | Sarah Reingewirtz/MediaNews Group/Los Angeles Daily News via Getty Images Smarter testing could help save the US pandemic response. In late June, an Austin, Texas, man with a runny nose and sore throat got a Covid-19 test and was told it could take up to 10 days for his results to come back. While he waited, he shrugged off his symptoms as a cold and continued with his plans, which included attending a wedding outside Dallas.