Covid-19: Failing the test

Delays, errors and a fragmented response initially kept public health officials in the dark about the spread of SARS-CoV-2. More tests and easy access could play a critical role in slowing the virus.

In January 2020, the worst public health emergency in over a century was brewing. By January 30, the World Health Organization recognized it as such. But the United States struggled with one of the most basic tenets of controlling a pandemic: knowing who is infected. Unlike in other countries and despite having the know-how and the technology, tests for Covid-19 were not widely available for weeks, with the FDA only approving private labs to use their own tests by the end of February of that year. By that time, the SARS-CoV-2 had already spread. That head start, and a continuing deficit in access to frequent, rapid testing, is one reason the US has since recorded over 700,000 pandemic deaths.

In interviews with a number of experts, this video explores what went wrong with testing early in the pandemic, why that was a problem and the testing strategies that could be put in place now to slow down the spread of Covid-19.

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This video is part of Reset: The Science of Crisis & Recovery, an ongoing series exploring how the world is navigating the coronavirus pandemic, its consequences and the way forward. Reset is supported by a grant from the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation. Watch more videos from Knowable Magazine.

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[MaggiDaC]

Feels to me like in the United States, we've collectively gone from "it's not happening" right into "it's almost over."

[BingoBabyO]

What was the PCR Ct threshold of your test — do you know? If you dont maybe you should look it up… then you should go study what Kary Mullis PHD Nobel Prize winner who invented the PCR test said about its use… I didn’t hear this story mention any of this once… so amazingly - did you even point out the issue with tests ? Or did you just point out failure to ‘test’ and not even address accuracy and efficacy of a test… and how to properly interpret a test…. Poor reporting - Im unsubscribing. Baloney reporting.