Brett Giroir, the coronavirus testing czar, said Wednesday that
the United States’ coronavirus testing capacity is at risk of being
overwhelmed in some states by a surge in new infections and
increased surveillance efforts in nursing homes and jails.
“It is absolutely correct that some labs across the country
are reaching or near capacity,” Giroir said. “Recent data from
several states indicate rising infections and now an uptick in
hospitalizations and death, even as other states and the great
majority of counties are maintaining a low infection burden.”
The percentage of people testing positive has spiked in recent
days in several states — including Arizona, Florida and Texas.
That’s a sign that the virus is spreading rapidly.
Lagging labs: Commercial laboratories like Quest
Diagnostics and LabCorp have warned that their turnaround times for
test results are rising due to a surge in demand. Earlier this
week, Quest said that it now needs an average of 3-5 days to
produce results on non-priority samples, up from 2-3 days.
What’s next: Giroir emphasized that young adults, who
account for the majority of new cases, must be vigilant about
practicing social distancing and wearing a mask. The Department of
Health and Human Services is developing plans to implement surge
testing in moderate-sized communities of high concern in Texas,
Florida and Louisiana, to try to bring the outbreaks in those areas
under control.
“A blitz of testing over a few days could help to identify a
lot of the under 35-year-old asymptomatics that may be spreading
the virus,” Giroir said. “When you have a lot of younger people
who are asymptomatic, particularly in an outbreak situation, it is
much harder, not impossible, but much harder to contact
trace.”
