Why It ’s So Hard to Get Coronavirus Testing in the U.S. Right Now

When employees of Massachusetts biotech company Biogen were informed in late February that several among them had been diagnosed with the infection after a company-wide meeting, they immediately went to hospitals for testing, but were turned away. Because of the scarce number of tests available in the U.S., doctors, upon the advice of the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), were following strict protocols for who could be tested: people who had symptoms and had traveled to a country where cases were endemic, or had been in close contact with someone who had tested positive. Most of the Biogen employees didn’t have any of the symptoms of fever, cough or difficult breathing that are the hallmarks of COVID-19, but understandably wanted to know if they had been exposed. Two weeks after the meeting, 77 of Massachusetts’ 95 confirmed cases are Biogen employees. The criteria for who can be tested have since been relaxed, and doctors can now order the test for any patient, using their best judgement on whether it’s necessary. Still, testing in the US lags far behind that in other countries, due to a combination of technical and policy issues, as well as political pressure. Keep up to date with our daily coronavirus newsletter by clicking here. When the first cases of COVID-19 were reported in the US, two labs at the CDC were the only ones permitted to conduct COVID-19 testing, using a test developed by the agency’s own researchers. When the CDC tried to expand...
Source: TIME: Health - Category: Consumer Health News Authors: Tags: Uncategorized COVID-19 Source Type: news