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

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

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=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".

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Thank you for the explanation. [/quote]

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