US is way behind other countries in testing for coronavirus

[iluvtennis]

https://nymag.com/intelligencer/2020/02/why-has-the-us-cdc-done-so-little-coronavirus-testing.html

CORONAVIRUS UPDATED FEB. 26, 2020
Why Hasn’t the U.S. Done More Coronavirus Tests?
By Chas Danner

As cases of COVID-19 continue to spike around the world, the CDC warned on Tuesday that Americans should prepare for the likelihood that the coronavirus will eventually spread here. Amid escalating outbreaks outside of China, it’s clear that there has been undetected transmission of the virus from countries with which the U.S. has not restricted travel. While there has not been a corresponding spike in cases within the U.S., many health experts are warning the coronavirus may already be here. That remains an unknown though — in no small part because the U.S. has done very little testing for the virus. And thanks to problems at the CDC, including the distribution of a faulty test kit for the coronavirus, it’s not clear when the country’s testing capacity will improve.

“We’re testing everybody that we need to test,” President Trump insisted on Wednesday during his first press conference on the coronavirus. He’s almost certainly wrong.

Also on Wednesday, the U.S. confirmed its first coronavirus case of unknown origin — providing the first evidence that the virus is spreading, undetected, inside the U.S. without any known, direct link to the original outbreak in mainland China. It may not be the first undetected outbreak, either. On Monday, the Washington Post reported that at one unnamed hospital in the U.S., clinicians were unable to test a patient who had developed coronavirus-like symptoms after returning from a trip to Singapore.

Across the country, some health-care facilities and public health laboratories have begun looking for alternative ways to test for the virus, including using imported tests or developing their own, but those efforts have faced regulatory delays. At the same time, the CDC guidelines on who should be tested for the coronavirus have not been expanded, even as the disease has spread around the globe.

Below is a look at what’s gone wrong and what may come next.

... continued at link

[shanti]

1. Rachel said, on her show

that the U.S. had TWO HUNDRED test kits. For the entire country. My god...

[iluvtennis]

3. Yes, saw that. It's so scary. nt

[bamagal62]

2. I read today that there are 2 cases

Suspected in Minnesota. But, they don’t have testing kits there.

[iluvtennis]

5. Yep, it's disgusting. nt

[dflprincess]

7. According to the local news this morning they were

waiting for test results on a suspected case here. On the 10 o'clock news they just said the test was negative. No mention was made of any other suspected cases in the state.

[bamagal62]

4. We are so screwed.

[iluvtennis]

6. Lawrence O'Donnell had a guess on that said Korea has kits for sale.

He recommended that Pence and his task force order hundreds of thousands of kits from Korea and do it now.

[backtoblue]

8. WTH are they waiting for???

If there are testing kits available why do we not have them ?

Waiting on the price to go down?

[Ilsa]

10. Narcissism. Trump fired the team who would know far in advance

what needed to be done to prepare for this, including development of test kits. Trump has never accepted his own failures in the past, so he can't conceive of this going south on himself. Truly, his narcissism is a danger to everyone.

[iluvtennis]

11. +++ agree. nt

[burrowowl]

9. Even behind Cuba