Scientists Call For Faster Tests
To try to better track and stem the spread of coronavirus, scientists have called for widespread adoption of simpler, less accurate tests, as long as they’re given often and quickly.
“Even if you miss somebody on Day 1,” Omai Garner, director of clinical microbiology in the UCLA Health System, told the Times. “If you test them repeatedly, the argument is, you’ll catch them the next time around.”
The strategy hinges on having an enormous supply of testing kits. But many experts believe more rapid, frequent testing would spot people who need immediate medical care while also identifying those most likely to spread COVID-19, the Times reported.
Of the dozens of coronavirus tests that have been granted emergency use authorization by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, most rely on complex laboratory procedures, such as PCR, the Times reported.
Only a few tests are quick and simple enough to be run in a doctor’s office or urgent care clinic, without the need for lab equipment. And these tests are still relatively scarce nationwide, though government officials say they plan to ramp up production of such tests by the fall, the newspaper said.
“If you had asked me this a couple months ago, I would have said we just need to be doing the PCR tests,” Susan Butler-Wu, a clinical microbiologist at the University of Southern California, told the Times. “But we are so far gone in this country. It is a catastrophe. It’s kitchen sink time, even if the tests are imperfect.”
By Monday, the U.S. coronavirus case count surpassed 5 million as the death toll exceeded 162,400, according to a Times tally.
According to the same tally, the top five states in coronavirus cases as of Monday were: California with over 563,000; Florida with nearly 533,000; Texas with over 508,000; New York with over 425,500; and New Jersey with more than 186,600.
Nations Grapple With Pandemic
Elsewhere in the world, the situation remains challenging.
Australia logged a record daily death toll on Monday, following weeks of rising case numbers there, the Post reported.
In the Australian state of Victoria, authorities confirmed more than 300 new infections and 19 deaths over the last 24 hours, the Post reported. But there were hopeful signs that the peak of the outbreak might be over. The number of new daily cases in Victoria has been falling significantly since the middle of last week, the newspaper said. A strict lockdown imposed on the state’s capital, Melbourne, more than a week ago may start affecting case numbers soon.
Things continue to worsen in India. On Monday, the country passed 2.2 million infections and over 44,300 deaths, a Johns Hopkins tally showed. The surge comes weeks after a national lockdown was lifted, and it’s prompted some parts of the country to revert back to stricter social distancing measures.
Brazil is also a hotspot in the coronavirus pandemic, with over 3 million confirmed infections by Monday, according to the Hopkins tally. It has the second-highest number of cases, behind only the United States.
Cases are also spiking wildly in Russia: As of Monday, that country reported the world’s fourth-highest number of COVID-19 cases, at over 890,700, the Hopkins tally showed.
Worldwide, the number of reported infections passed 19.8 million on Monday, with over 73,500 deaths, according to the Hopkins tally.