Coronavirus testing must double or triple before U.S. can safely reopen, experts say
April 17, 2020 / By Sarah Fitzpatrick, Heidi Przybyla, Dan De Luce, Laura Strickler and Adiel Kaplan
Testing for the coronavirus would have to be at least doubled or tripled from its current levels to allow for even a partial reopening of America’s economy, public health experts say, but it is unclear how soon such an ambitious goal could be reached amid persistent shortages of testing supplies and a lack of coordination from the Trump administration.
Without diagnostic testing on a massive scale, federal and state officials and private companies will lack a clear picture of who has been infected, who can safely return to work, how the virus is spreading and when stay-at-home orders can be eased, public health experts say.
“We are an order of magnitude off right now from where we should be,” said Dylan George, an expert in infectious disease modeling who advised the administration of President Barack Obama in combating the Ebola epidemic. “Testing is the perpetual problem here.”
President Donald Trump announced federal guidelines Thursday to ease stay-at-home orders that leave it up to the states to decide on timing. The president outlined a gradual process that would be based on benchmarks like declines in positive cases.
“We are not opening all at once, but one careful step at a time,” Trump said.
