Testing for COVID-19 in US: “Tests are being rationed”, and outlook for the future

[Anonymous]

In many threads people are asking why the testing criteria are so ridiculously strict.

There is a simple answer: there are not enough tests. So tests are being rationed. Only those who are at the absolute highest risk are being tested.

So when do we think test numbers will rise? UW Seattle and UCSF are doing their own tests. Harvard and others are ramping up. But when will tests be widely available?

[Anonymous]

Why do we STILL not have tests? This is ridiculous.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Why do we STILL not have tests? This is ridiculous.

Because we are a s hithole.

And because the emperor with no clothes didn’t want them.

[Anonymous]

CDC is complicit in a criminally negligent mistake.

I hope someone will bring suit against them and that heads will roll.

- scientist

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Why do we STILL not have tests? This is ridiculous.

maybe you should speak to the manager

[Anonymous]

Can we order them ourselves from the W.H.O.?

Can our states order the test kits?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why do we STILL not have tests? This is ridiculous.

maybe you should speak to the manager

My “manager” (house rep) can’t get a test either even though he was potentially exposed. We are pissed.

Why isn’t Trump getting tests? STILL.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Can we order them ourselves from the W.H.O.?

Can our states order the test kits?

Who gets the tests from Jack Ma?

I vote no celebrities or members of GOP.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Can we order them ourselves from the W.H.O.?

Can our states order the test kits?

You need kits and also PCR machines.

And you can’t just “order” 100,000 “W Coronavirus Test Kits”.

This is the kind of thing that takes weeks or months to plan for.

[Anonymous]

One issue they are having right now is that they have enough tests but no RNA extraction kits from Qiagen. I used to do those in my lab, so I know the procedure. RNA extraction is a step in preparing the patient samples for the Covid-19 test. The lack of RNA extraction kits means that samples cannot be prepared for Covid-19 testing, hence the backlog. Qiagen is ramping up production, but it will take a while.

State labs said they could buy other RNA extraction kits from different suppliers, but that this would mean their staff needed some time to be trained on the new kits. Which is ridiculous, given the urgency. I didn't have that kind of leisure given to me at my university.

So just because most media sources don't drill down to identify where issues are in the multistep process that is Covid-19 testing, it doesn't mean that this process is easy and simple. It's not. There are many reagents, many supplies, many places in the chain that can pose problems. It's not just "here's a WHO or CDC box with test tubes, everything you need is here".

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Can we order them ourselves from the W.H.O.?

Can our states order the test kits?

You need kits and also PCR machines.

And you can’t just “order” 100,000 “W Coronavirus Test Kits”.

This is the kind of thing that takes weeks or months to plan for.

It’s a shame our leadership only got serious in the past few days.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Can we order them ourselves from the W.H.O.?

Can our states order the test kits?

You need kits and also PCR machines.

And you can’t just “order” 100,000 “W Coronavirus Test Kits”.

This is the kind of thing that takes weeks or months to plan for.

This is one of the major hiccups in the whole chain.
American labs need to be certified to be able to process human lab results (to guarantee that they all process tests the same way and get the same results) There are only so many labs in America that have this certification (Quest and Labcorps being two major ones). Quest and Lapcorps only have so many PCR machines which are needed to process the Corona tests. These two companies combined can process something like 5000 kits a day with their available PCR machines. Total.

Now many university and medical school labs also have these PCR machines that their bench scientists (i.e. laboratory) scientists use in their research. Some of the these universities (UCSF, U of Wash, Hopkins) are using these machines to independently process kits. However, the results aren't certified (but it doesn't seem to matter as far as reporting is going).
However, harnessing this capacity isn't an easy thing to do either. You have to train people, etc. and the machines are in random rooms all over schools of medicine.

Basically, it's a major problem. I'm not sure why other countries have the technology more readily available but we clearly don't.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:
CDC is complicit in a criminally negligent mistake.

I hope someone will bring suit against them and that heads will roll.

- scientist

I'm for suing the Chinese government.

[Anonymous]

Why do Bill Gates, Bezos, and Musk get together and donate to mass produce and distribute tests? They have the money and distort network to actually make it happen.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:
One issue they are having right now is that they have enough tests but no RNA extraction kits from Qiagen. I used to do those in my lab, so I know the procedure. RNA extraction is a step in preparing the patient samples for the Covid-19 test. The lack of RNA extraction kits means that samples cannot be prepared for Covid-19 testing, hence the backlog. Qiagen is ramping up production, but it will take a while.

State labs said they could buy other RNA extraction kits from different suppliers, but that this would mean their staff needed some time to be trained on the new kits. Which is ridiculous, given the urgency. I didn't have that kind of leisure given to me at my university.

So just because most media sources don't drill down to identify where issues are in the multistep process that is Covid-19 testing, it doesn't mean that this process is easy and simple. It's not. There are many reagents, many supplies, many places in the chain that can pose problems. It's not just "here's a WHO or CDC box with test tubes, everything you need is here".

That’s very informative, thanks for the information.

I saw some portable test kit claiming getting results in 15 mins https://youtu.be/Ww-o0stl3zQ

I wonder if the US can design or import something similar as initial screening, at least people can get some reassurance from the results. The current situation put many people in the limbo, not just people who might be infected, but other people who need medical resources for other diseases, and hospital visit for healthy people. I saw a news report, an old man was denied hospital visit of his dying wife because of changed rule during pandemic, he was crying that he may not have last word with her.