CDC is an inept government agency. Seattle had to develop THEIR OWN TEST to figure out what was going on:
Frustrated by the lack of testing resulting from the problem with the CDC-developed kit, the Seattle Flu Study began using an in-house developed test to look for Covid-19 in samples from people who had flu-like symptoms but who had tested negative for flu. That work — permissible because it was research — uncovered the Snohomish County teenager.
Inept? I hope so. The alternative is deliberate sabotage.