The United States is still lagging far behind on testing for coronavirus and it may be costing lives. As of Tuesday, the CDC reported that 8554 tests had been administered across the country. By comparison, the Washington Post reports, “South Korea’s most effective weapon against the virus has been to rapidly expand testing. It is are now testing 15,000 people a day, according to government figures; 210,000 South Koreans have been tested since Jan. 3.”
There are many reasons for the lack of testing in the U.S. and plenty of blame to go around. The New York Times writes:
A series of missed chances by the federal government to ensure more widespread testing came during the early days of the outbreak, when containment would have been easier.
The report cites an infectious disease expert in Seattle who asked for federal testing help back in January. Now fast forward 5-6 weeks later, “Even now, after weeks of mounting frustration toward federal agencies over flawed test kits and burdensome rules, states with growing cases such as New York and California are struggling to test widely for the coronavirus.”
Meanwhile, even when testing finally, eventually, goes widespread in the U.S., Politico says, “A looming shortage in lab materials is threatening to delay coronavirus test results .”
CDC Director Robert Redfield told POLITICO on Tuesday that he is not confident that U.S. labs have an adequate stock of the supplies used to extract genetic material from any virus in a patient’s sample — a critical step in coronavirus testing.
“The availability of those reagents is obviously being looked at,” he said, referring to the chemicals used for preparing samples. “I’m confident of the actual test that we have, but as people begin to operationalize the test, they realize there’s other things they need to do the test.”
