General Discussion

denem

(11,045 posts) Thu Mar 12, 2020, 03:00 AM Mar 2020

Financial Times: 'The US has tested fewer than 6,000 people'

Donald Trump’s troubling coronavirus address

... Perhaps the biggest fallout of Mr Trump’s address was what he did not say. His most glaring omission was any plan to increase America’s capacity to test for infections. Epidemiologists say accurate testing is the single most effective method to counter the disease’s spread. It allows the authorities to isolate clusters, trace the movement of the virus and make critical decisions on where the biggest risks lie. That is what countries such as Taiwan, Singapore and South Korea have done so effectively without resorting to the draconian measures taken in China.

The US has tested fewer than 6,000 people out of a population of 327m. By contrast, the Netherlands, with 17m people, is testing that many every day. South Korea, with 51m people, is testing 10,000 a day. The shortage of US kits stems from federal bureaucratic delays. One simple fix would be to import them from Germany, which are WHO-approved.

Mr Trump said nothing about tests other than that health insurers would waive co-pay charges on those being tested. That moderate incentive is irrelevant until the US has a capacity to screen more people. Mr Trump could have tackled the problem at a stroke by saying the US would import as many kits as necessary. But that would have undercut the spirit of his message: the epidemic comes from a “foreign virus”, he said; America must therefore narrow its access to the world.

https://www.ft.com/content/0be9b456-6414-11ea-a6cd-df28cc3c6a68

Ofcourse, importing testing kits would deny domestic 'outfits' the opportunity to profit from the epidemic.