Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Rapid Test Used By White House Can Miss Infections Nearly 50% Of The Time, Preliminary Study Suggests
The New York Times: Coronavirus Testing Used By The White House Could Miss Infections
A rapid coronavirus test used by the White House to screen its staff could miss infections up to 48 percent of the time, according to a study by researchers at N.Y.U. Langone Health. The study, which has not yet been peer reviewed, evaluated the accuracy of the test, Abbott ID Now, a machine about the size of a toaster oven that can yield results in five to 13 minutes. The product, which was given emergency authorization by the Food and Drug Administration in late March, has been enthusiastically promoted by President Trump — it was even used as a prop during at least one news conference. Mr. Trump has said the tests are “highly accurate.” (Thomas, 5/13)
The Washington Post: Abbott Test Hailed By President Trump Has Been Dogged By Accuracy Questions
The study, while preliminary and not yet peer-reviewed, raised questions about a test that has been praised by Trump, who displayed it at a Rose Garden news conference on April 2 and said it created “a whole new ballgame.” As the pandemic was creating a sense of urgency about testing, the Abbott test triggered a scramble among governors and other state officials because bottlenecks were causing waits of as long as a week or more for test results. (Johnson and Mufson, 5/13)
The Wall Street Journal: Abbott’s Coronavirus Test Falls Short Of Rival Device
The Abbott device can produce test results in less than 15 minutes. That fast turnaround attracted attention from President Trump and other officials as testing backlogs swelled in March. Abbott said “it is unclear if the samples were tested correctly in this study.” The company said it has distributed about 1.8 million ID Now tests, and the reported rate of false negatives to Abbott is 0.02%. The company said the NYU results weren’t consistent with other studies of the test, such as one conducted by city officials in Detroit that found the ID Now correctly detected 48 out of 49 positive samples. (Weaver and Ballhaus, 5/13)
Bloomberg: False Negatives Raise More Questions About Virus Test Accuracy
When patients were tested immediately after infection, typically before symptoms occur, the false-negative rate was 100%. On the first day of symptoms, the false-negative rate was 38%. After three days of symptoms, false-negatives dropped to 20%. The rate began getting worse after five days, suggesting a narrow window for the most accurate results. (Cortez, Court and Brown, 5/13)
CNN: Abbott's Fast Covid-19 Test May Miss Too Many Cases, NYU Study Finds
"The White House might have to call an audible and switch tests," said Dr. Peter Hotez, a professor at Baylor University School of Medicine in Houston. "Calling an audible" is a football term when the quarterback changes the play at the last minute. The White House has not yet released an official comment. (5/13)
Hartford Courant: Abbott’s 15-Minute Coronavirus Test Was Hailed As A ‘Game Changer.' Now, Many Connecticut Hospitals Aren’t Using It.
In late March, Dr. Scott Gottlieb, the former commissioner of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, tweeted that Abbott’s ID NOW COVID-19 test was a “game changer," while President Donald Trump called the test “a whole new ballgame.” In April, Gov. Ned Lamont and his administration repeatedly touted the governor’s work to convince Abbott executives to bring the ID NOW test to the state. Later that month, Lamont said that “to be able to get the testing results in less than 15 minutes is how we’re going to lick this virus." (Brindley, 5/14)
ABC News: With All Eyes On Coronavirus Testing, Some Researchers Say 'Group Testing' Could Make Up The Shortage
When the nation's top health officials testified virtually before lawmakers Tuesday, a major focus on getting a handle on the coronavirus was the ability to test more Americans, long seen as one of the keys to safely re-opening the country. Though Health and Human Services Secretary Adm. Brett Giroir lauded a testing effort that was expanding weekly, Republican Sen. Mitt Romney, R-Utah, said he found America's "testing record nothing to celebrate whatsoever" and described a nation that was racing to catch up... Experts have said the U.S. capacity has to be far greater to fully re-open the country -- though the total number of tests needed and the amount of re-testing necessary is a matter of debate. But some researchers say there could be a way to help solve the testing riddle, not strictly by producing more tests, but by getting much more out of each individual test through a method known as "group testing." (Abdelmalek, 5/13)
The Washington Post: Scientists Are Developing A Home Test For Coronavirus
Andrew Brooks, a Rutgers University molecular neuroscientist, remembers clearly having a long nasopharyngeal swab stuck up his nose in search of evidence of a virus. “It was terrible,” he recalls. “It felt like someone was poking the front of my brain.” Now Brooks, who is also the chief operating officer and director of technology development at a firm called RUCDR Infinite Biologics, has come up with a coronavirus test that relies on nothing more than spitting into a cup. (Mufson, 5/13)
Meanwhile, in news on contact tracing —
USA Today: Coronavirus, Contact Tracing: States Scramble To Fill COVID-19 Jobs
Rachel Brummert left her home in Charlotte, North Carolina, just once after March 2: to pick up a prescription at CVS on March 18. That made the job of the contact tracer from the Mecklenburg County health department a lot easier after Brummert, 49, got her positive COVID-19 results on April 9. The tracer had only two other transmission possibilities to consider. She had to talk to people near Brummert’s husband at the financial services company office where he worked until March 18, and find a 26-year-old neighbor who two days later left groceries on the bottom step while Brummert stood on the top step. (Alltucker and O'Donnell, 5/13)
