Exclusive: U.S. coronavirus testing threatened by shortage of critical lab materials

[Slartibartfast]

Exclusive: U.S. coronavirus testing threatened by shortage of critical lab materials - POLITICO

A looming shortage in lab materials is threatening to delay coronavirus test results and cause officials to undercount the number of Americans with the virus.

The slow pace of coronavirus testing has created a major gap in the U.S. public health response. The latest problem involves an inability to prepare samples for testing, creating uncertainties in how long it will take to get results.

CDC Director Robert Redfield told POLITICO on Tuesday that he is not confident that U.S. labs have an adequate stock of the supplies used to extract genetic material from any virus in a patient’s sample — a critical step in coronavirus testing.

“The availability of those reagents is obviously being looked at,” he said, referring to the chemicals used for preparing samples. “I’m confident of the actual test that we have, but as people begin to operationalize the test, they realize there’s other things they need to do the test.”

If this cannot be helped, we may never truly know how many either got sick or died as a result of this disease in the US.

 

[Ikari]

Exclusive: U.S. coronavirus testing threatened by shortage of critical lab materials - POLITICO



If this cannot be helped, we may never truly know how many either got sick or died as a result of this disease in the US.

Fake news. Trump said we have enough for anyone who wants to be tested to be able to be tested. Why do you have to spread all that fake news?

 

[Slartibartfast]

Fake news. Trump said we have enough for anyone who wants to be tested to be able to be tested. Why do you have to spread all that fake news?

They can get tested, sure. Those tests may not get processed... but sure, they can get tested

 

[Taylor]

Not surprising given the demand in Europe and Asia.