Biden team plots the country's first national Covid testing strategy

[DonViejo]

The widespread testing envisioned by the Biden program is sorely needed to help bring the pandemic to an end.

By DAVID LIM

03/07/2021 07:00 AM EST

The Biden administration is preparing to launch the first of several Covid-19 testing hubs to coordinate and oversee a $650 million expansion of testing in K-8 schools and congregate settings like homeless shelters.

The Department of Health and Human Services hopes to open the first hub in April, as part of a public-private partnership that could eventually add up to 25 million tests per month to the nation’s testing totals, two sources briefed on the plans told POLITICO. Administration officials discussed details of the program on Tuesday during a call with industry, government agencies and state and local health departments. They held a second industry call on Thursday.

The effort is the first attempt at formalizing a national testing strategy — something public-health experts have wanted for months. It comes amid a puzzling drop in the total number of tests recorded in the United States, from nearly 2 million a day in mid-January to about 1.5 million a day now. Public health experts attribute the decline to several factors, including widespread winter storms, increased reliance on point-of-care tests with results that are often not reported to health authorities and pandemic fatigue. The number of new cases is also declining, and the number of Americans who have been vaccinated is climbing.

But the widespread testing envisioned by the Biden program is sorely needed to help bring the pandemic to an end, experts said — even with three vaccines now available. A surveillance system that uses testing to track the spread of the virus and its variants can help communities determine how to safely reopen schools and offices, and eventually return to a more normal life.

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https://www.politico.com/news/2021/03/07/covid-testing-biden-473937