Coronavirus Testing Still Not Making the Grade

Lack of a national testing strategy may be the government’s biggest failure

By Gerald Seib of The WSJ. Excerpts: 

"Crucially, a new generation of somewhat less accurate but cheaper and more rapid screening tests is becoming available, yet the CDC has yet to provide full guidance on how best to use them, public-health activists say. Reopening schools safely would be far easier if rapid tests were widely available, along with a plan on how best to use them."

"Beyond that, the disparities in testing availability are on vivid display every day. National Basketball Association players and White House officials can get daily tests and instant results, but average Americans can’t. The coronavirus is hitting particularly hard in minority communities, yet testing is harder to find for people there, particularly because they may not be able to afford the consultation with a doctor often required before a test is approved."

"One of the most crucial lessons learned about the coronavirus recently is that almost half of the spread of the disease is done by people who aren’t yet showing any symptoms—so-called asymptomatic spread—and that most asymptomatic spread occurs in the first few days after the virus has been contracted. That finding underscores the urgency of identifying through regular tests those who are carrying the virus but not showing symptoms, and rapidly taking them out of circulation.

Widespread use of antigen tests, which detect proteins associated with the virus in less than an hour without the need for laboratory work, would be a big help. With that in mind, seven states, with aid from the Rockefeller Foundation, last week formed a compact to jointly purchase millions of these rapid-result tests. That’s a step forward—but not the same as a national strategy to do the same."