Posted on 04/05/2020 9:52:53 AM PDT by rintintin
Home testing for the new coronavirus may sound like a good idea, but U.S. regulators say it's still too risky.
They've stopped companies that quickly launched home-testing kits until they can show their products can accurately detect the virus.
For now, the only way Americans can get tested is at hospitals, clinics or drive-thru sites, with a doctor's order.
After a botched rollout, testing in the U.S. has ramped up thanks to high-volume testing machines and new rapid tests. Last week, federal officials said total tests topped 1.4 million, and labs are processing nearly 100,000 tests daily. That's the threshold many experts say is needed to track the virus.
Still, testing continues to be constrained by shortages of medical supplies like gloves, masks and swabs. And the widespread drive-thru testing proposed for parking lots at chains like Walmart, Walgreens and Target has barely gotten off the ground.
Meanwhile, the Food and Drug Administration is aggressively pushing new options onto the market.
FASTER RESULTS
Genetic tests are the gold standard for detecting COVID-19 infections. New, quicker ones are replacing the original laboratory tests that have to be manually mixed and developed.
The idea behind both tests is the same: chemical solutions are used to isolate the virus from the patient sample, grab its genetic material and then reproduce it millions of times until it's detectable with a computer.
New rapid tests such as the one by Abbott Laboratories automate the process, cutting the time from four to six hours to about 15 minutes.
(Excerpt) Read more at ktla.com ...
If you have to be sick to be tested...how do you find clusters.
I'm paranoid enough to be concerned that the infection tests sound a little like "let's get everyone's DNA into a big database". That seems to be a long-standing goal. I think they are ramping it up.
I understand and agree that we need tests to be accurate. It’s a shame we aren’t there yet. What we need is for the entire population to be able to test themselves upon demand.
I’m paranoid enough to be concerned that the infection tests sound a little ..”
I’m paranoid enough to worry that, because they don’t do mass testing and don’t know who has the virus and who doesn’t, they will start requiring EVERYBODY to stay inside, and not go to work. Oh wait, they’re already doing that! Uprecedented in US history on such a broad scale. The way out of that is to test people (and let the folks who test positive isolate, while the rest of us go back to work).
A test for antibodies were it to be universally used would likely show that millions have already been infected and got over it, most of whom would not even have recognized that they were ill. I am sure that it has been all through my county and is just in the last 10 days showing up as
20 or so “confirmed cases.” I am betting on two bouts, one in February when many many people were sick, most not much more than having an uncomfortable couple of days, then again with Spring Break at this beach resort which should have been cancelled but was not.
I bet you are on to something.
let the folks who test positive isolate, while the rest of us go back to work,US?
Predetermined test result based on what?
Be careful what you wish for.
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