Why There Aren't Enough Coronavirus Tests in the U.S.

[Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin]

There's a massive shortage of COVID-19 (Coronavirus) test kits in the U.S., as cases continue to skyrocket in places like Seattle and New York City. This is largely due to the failure of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to distribute the tests in a timely fashion.

But it didn't have to be this way. Back in January and February—when cases of the deadly disease began aggressively circulating outside of China—diagnostics already existed in places like Wuhan, where the pandemic began. Those tests followed World Health Organization (WHO) test guidelines, which the U.S. decided to eschew.

Instead, the CDC created its own in-depth diagnostics that could identify not only COVID-19, but a host of SARS-like coronaviruses. Then, disaster struck: When the CDC sent tests to labs during the first week of February, those labs discovered that while the kits did detect COVID-19, they also produced false positives when checking for other viruses. As the CDC went back to the drawing board to develop yet more tests, precious time ticked away.

"I think that we should have had testing more widely available about a month earlier," Dr. Carl Fichtenbaum, professor of clinical medicine at the University of Cincinnati's School of Medicine, tells Popular Mechanics. "That would have been more appropriate so that we could have identified people earlier on and used some of the mitigating strategies that we’re using now."

https://news.yahoo.com/why-arent-enough-coronavirus-tests-202700145.html

[Celerity]

1. because

[mnhtnbb]

2. This doesn't explain why the WHO

tests weren't accepted in early February after the screw up. There's more to this story.

[Hoyt]

3. Right wingers would raise hell if we used foreign made tests is only

reason I can think of, nationalism and all that crud.

[mnhtnbb]

4. I think $$ to somebody is involved somewhere.

Somebody was going to profit from probable outsourcing after the tests were developed.

[Hoyt]

8. I get the suspicion, but these test are produced by CDC, Mayo Clinic, the big national labs, etc.,

and are not that lucrative (although volume could be huge).

[Hermit-The-Prog]

5. More likely a delay while trump and Jared figured a way to profit.

[SWBTATTReg]

6. I think you're more right than perhaps you realise here...or you may know, there was a story...

in DU earlier about this and getting the test kits made by a Kushner company...figures. They delayed because of f**king profits and trying to route them (profits) to a Kushner company. And also tried to buy a Germany made vaccine too, I think I heard too. Absolutely disgusting, especially when lives are at stake and these morons are more concerned about profits and wealth then lives. Pardon me as I go to throw up.

[Hoyt]

10. Actually, I looked that one up and I don't think it's true, although I despise the MFer.

He’s definitely a swarmy POS.

https://www.democraticunderground.com/?com=view_post&forum=1002&pid=13107304

[colsohlibgal]

7. Twitler Wanted His Fellow Richie Riches To Profit On This

We could have had the WHO test some time ago. So once again we see what a greedy dumb jerk this rotten to the core Dumbbell he is. So disgusting.

I hope Biden wins every freaking State. Let’s free this Creep up so he can be thoroughly criminally investigated.

[Hotler]

9. Ther is no profit in it. nt