Bill Gates Talks Vaccines, Calls Tests ‘Garbage’ In Wired Interview

Wired: Bill Gates On Covid: Most US Tests Are ‘Completely Garbage’
"I’m surprised at the US situation because the smartest people on epidemiology in the world, by a lot, are at the CDC," [Bill Gates said.] "I would have expected them to do better. You would expect the CDC to be the most visible, not the White House or even Anthony Fauci. But they haven’t been the face of the epidemic. They are trained to communicate and not try to panic people but get people to take things seriously. They have basically been muzzled since the beginning."

In other testing and tracing news —

Los Angeles Times: New COVID-19 Testing Site Set To Open Near Pedestrian Crossing In San Ysidro Along U.S.-Mexico Border 
Later this week, a COVID-19 testing site will open up just outside a pedestrian crossing in San Ysidro, where tens of thousands of people enter the United States from Mexico every day. The PedEast testing location is thought to be the closest to the U.S.-Mexico border in any state, and is the result, the county says, of a data-driven, community-led strategy that aims to slow the spread of COVID-19 in South Bay communities. (Winkley and Solis, 8/9)

NPR: Survey Of Contact Tracing Workforce Shows Little Growth, Despite Surging Cases
The United States needs as many as 100,000 contact tracers to fight the pandemic, the director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention told Congress in June. We need billions of dollars to fund them, public health leaders pleaded in April. But in August, with coronavirus cases increasing in more than half of states, America has neither the staff nor the resources to be able to trace the contacts of every new case — a key step in the COVID-19 public health response. (Simmons-Duffin, 8/7)

Politico: Shortages Threaten Trump’s Plan For Rapid Coronavirus Tests
The Trump administration is gambling that a new generation of fast, cheap coronavirus tests can bring the U.S. outbreak under control. The challenge now is getting enough of these tests to pursue that strategy. The rapid antigen tests, which hunt for proteins on the virus’ surface, give results in less than 30 minutes. They are less accurate than lab tests now in widespread use, which detect the virus’s genetic material and take hours to analyze. But a growing number of public health experts say trading off accuracy for speed is a gamble worth taking, as testing labs struggle to clear days-long backlogs. (Lim and Roubein, 8/9)

San Francisco Chronicle: Why The Time To Get Back COVID-19 Test Results In Bay Area Ranges From 2 Weeks To 2 Days 
Delays in coronavirus test results from some Bay Area sites worsened this week, taking up to 19 days in the worst cases and frustrating officials trying to contain the summer’s surge in cases. The local lags in processing results, more frequently at commercial than public health labs, stem from increased demand, limited lab capacity and supply shortages across the country. Testing nationally continues to struggle as well. (Moench, 8/7)

Houston Chronicle: La Porte Clinic Ordered To Stop All COVID-19-Related Medical Care Following AG Lawsuit 
A district judge has ordered a Houston-area clinic to stop providing COVID-19-related testing and medical care and to secure a nearby dumpster where test results were allegedly being improperly disposed. (Hennes, 8/7)

AP: Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine Again Tests Negative For Coronavirus
The fourth COVID-19 test result for Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine came back negative Saturday after he received conflicting positive and negative results two days before, ahead of a scheduled meeting with President Trump. The governor and first lady, Fran DeWine, were tested at Ohio State University “out of an abundance of caution” following a rollercoaster day Thursday that began with DeWine receiving a positive test result followed by two negatives. The governor announced the negative results on Twitter on Saturday afternoon, thanking “everyone who sent along good wishes.” (Amiri, 8/8)