Despite Faster Kits And Ramped-Up Efforts, Ability To Get Tested And Have Quick Results Remains Spotty
Rapid testing kits are starting to reach hard-hit areas, but the surging demand means results are still being held up. Meanwhile coroners worry that a lack of testing means that COVID-19 death totals won't represent what's actually happening. Other tracking developments are reported out of California, Wisconsin and Georgia.
The New York Times:
Delays And Shortages Exacerbate Coronavirus Testing Gaps In The U.S.
Three weeks ago, Dr. Elaine Cham, a pathologist at a large children’s hospital in California, had a sense that the nation’s coronavirus testing mess was finally getting under control. She could send tests to a lab at Stanford University Medical Center and get the results within a day. When backlogs grew at Stanford, Dr. Cham starting sending tests to Quest Diagnostics, a major laboratory company that has been ramping up its testing capacity. But the turnaround for results could be 13 days, she said, so her hospital switched to the University of California, San Francisco, for a two-to-three day wait. (Kaplan and Thomas, 4/6)
CNN:
Coroners Worry Covid-19 Test Shortages Could Lead To Uncounted Deaths
Jill Romann, the coroner in Douglas County, Colorado, was so desperate for coronavirus tests that she began calling hospitals in the middle of the night to avoid management, begging whoever was on duty for one or two test kits. Her total collection reached about 13 before the hospitals caught on and shut her down. She asked the state health department for help getting the tests needed to determine whether deaths were linked to the virus. But she said the agency told her it was not providing them to coroners because it was prioritizing the tests for the living. (Ellis, Hicken and Fantz, 4/6)
Modern Healthcare:
Public Health Agencies Get $186 Million To Test, Track COVID-19
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention will provide state and local public health departments with $186 million in funding to help track and test for COVID-19, HHS said on Monday. The CDC will use the funding to support ongoing efforts to address coronavirus "hot zones" and areas with a rapid increase in reported cases that could soon become hot zones. (Brady, 4/6)
ABC News:
As The US Struggles With Lack Of Coronavirus Testing, Researchers Look To Our Sewage For Clues
As the novel coronavirus continues to spread and devastate communities, the United States is still struggling to do enough testing to understand the true scale of the epidemic. Now, researchers around the country are looking for new tools to help track how the virus is spreading. Testing your sewage may be one way. (Anoruo, 4/6)
The Wall Street Journal:
Who Has Covid-19? What We Know About Tests And Treatment For The New Coronavirus
The U.S. stumbled in the early days of the coronavirus pandemic, with testing limited by problems with a government-developed test and narrow testing criteria. Now dozens of options are emerging after the Food and Drug Administration opened the door for authorized companies and labs. We are updating this guide regularly with what we learn about the state of testing and treatment across the U.S. (Burton, 4/6)
Los Angeles Times:
All L.A. Residents With Symptoms Can Get Coronavirus Tests, Garcetti Says
Mayor Eric Garcetti announced Monday evening that any Los Angeles County resident who has symptoms and wants to be tested for the coronavirus can now apply online. Testing was previously limited to vulnerable populations, including those 65 and older, and those with compromised immune systems. (Newberry and Cosgrove, 4/6)
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel:
Labs Throughout Wisconsin Could Significantly Increase COVID-19 Testing — If They Could Get The Needed Chemicals
UW Health has an automated instrument capable of processing about 1,200 COVID-19 tests a day, or roughly four times the number that its lab now typically does. The instrument has yet to be used for a single COVID-19 test. UW Health’s lab, like others throughout the state, has been unable to get the chemicals, or reagents, needed to process specimens on the instrument. “You need the reagent or you are kind of dead in the water,” said David Yang, medical director of UW Health Clinical Laboratories. (Boulton, 4/7)
Atlanta Journal- Constitution:
Rapid Virus Tests Come To Atlanta As Testing Slowly Ramps Up
CVS Health on Monday opened a drive-through coronavirus testing center in Atlanta that the company said can provide results within minutes. A Sandy Springs laboratory that’s developed its own testing protocol, meanwhile, said it will have capacity to process thousands of samples per day for customers such as major health systems and rural hospitals. The announcements come as cases of COVID-19, the disease caused by the virus, climb and as Georgia continues to rank near the bottom nationally in testing on a per capita basis, an Atlanta Journal-Constitution analysis shows. (Trubey, 4/6)
