Americans face delays in testing when coronavirus cases exceed 3 million

Rachel Jones stayed at home for two weeks and went without pay checks while waiting for the results of the COVID-19 test from a pharmacy near Philadelphia.

“I’m very disappointed. I don’t know how to do it-with the resources and people we have, and the money we have, we can’t do this right.” She said.

Over four months in the United States, 3 million cases were confirmed and more than 130,000 deaths from coronavirus outbreaks. Faced with the recurrence of the tragedy, Americans face long queues or turn around at a summer heat test site. Others have been on for a week or more without a diagnosis.

Some sites lack kits, but labs report a lack of materials and labor to handle swabs.

Frustrated Americans remain wondering why the United States is unable to put together its actions, especially after being given a fair warning that the virus has caused havoc in China, then Italy, Spain and New York. I will.

“It’s a hot mess,” said 47-year-old Jennifer Hudson of Tucson, Arizona. “The fact that we are dependent on companies and that there is no national response to this is ridiculous… we make sure that those who need it cannot get it.”

Hudson took five days to make an appointment at a CVS pharmacy near his home. She booked a drive-up test on weekends more than a week after the first symptoms such as fatigue, shortness of breath, headache, and sore throat. The clinic informed her that her results would probably be delayed.

According to an analysis by the Associated Press, the number of tests increased nationwide, reaching an average of about 640,000 tests per day, from about 518,000 two weeks ago. With more than 50,000 new daily confirmed infections in the US, we set records on virtually every turn.

More tests tend to find more cases. However, as a worrisome indicator, the proportion of tests that test positive for virus is rising almost all over the United States, reaching almost 27% in Arizona, 19% in Florida and 17% in South Carolina.

The U.S. has more tests than any other country, but is in the middle of the pack with per capita tests next to Russia, Spain and Australia Johns Hopkins University.

Dr. Ashisher, director of the Global Health Institute at Harvard University, said: “As a country, six months after this outbreak, it’s amazing how Americans don’t know how to perform tests when they need it.” This is a failure of leadership, and the federal government It shows that we are not prioritizing testing in such a way that we can survive the trend.”

According to health experts, proper contact tracking and testing without quarantine measures alone cannot control the spread of the tragedy. But they say that delays in testing can lead to more infections by leaving people unaware if they need to be quarantined.

In other developments:

— The number of confirmed cases in the U.S. reached 3 million in Johns Hopkins on Wednesday, but health officials said the actual number was around due to inadequate testing and many unreported mild infections. 10 times, or almost 10% of the US population.

— Thousands of people attending President Donald Trump’s campaign in Tulsa, Oklahoma in late June, and a large number of people who are protesting against the dramatic surge of new coronavirus cases in the region, Tulsa City. Dr Bruce Dart of the County Department of Health, together with a group of people, said on Wednesday. Tulsa County reported 261 confirmed cases on Monday, breaking the all-day high, and reporting 206 confirmed cases on Tuesday. A spokesman for Trump’s campaign did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

— Spain said daily infections doubled in 24 hours in dozens of small outbreaks. Romania and Iraq set record highs every day. Australian authorities then plan to block the city of Melbourne again due to the spike.

— Most New York City students return to school two to three days a week in the fall to study the rest of their time online under the plan announced by Mayor Bill Debrascio. He said the school could not accommodate all students at once and maintain a social distance. The school system in New York is the largest in the country, with 1.1 million students. It has been closed since March.

In New York City, one of the nation’s deadliest hotspots in the spring, testing was inadequate early and is now widely available. According to the city’s health department, a combination of private medical institutions and the city’s institutions conducts 35,000 tests daily.

“The wide area test is key to the safe resumption of our city,” Mayor Bill de Brascio said.

The US Department of Health and Human Services announced this week that it will open free “surge test” sites in three of the most devastating cities. Baton Rouge, Louisiana; Edinburgh, Texas. The site can run as many as 5,000 tests a day in each city, with results in 3-5 days, officials said.

Dekalb County CEO Michael Thurmond said he is rushing to expand inspection capabilities in Georgia, where demand is soaring, as demand could overwhelm six major sites around Atlanta.

“If we predict this in the next three weeks, we won’t be able to deal with it,” he said.

In New Orleans, people were rejected after a free test site reached its test quota for three consecutive days. Healthcare providers lack the trays and chemicals needed to run the machines used in the tests.

Phoenix Mayor Kate Gallego said the situation was “desperate” as residents were sitting in a tanned car for up to 13 hours to take a drive-through test. Robert Fenton, head of the Federal Emergency Management Agency, said FEMA will double the test equipment it plans to ship to Arizona.

Patrick Friday, a United Methodist minister in Alabama, went to several hospitals and clinics in Birmingham this week to be tested after her school-age son tested positive. But he was said to be unqualified unless he had a pre-existing condition.

Finally, he went to a site that provided a quick results test, and his negative results were immediately back.

“This will take months,” he said. “Why can’t I enter the room and take the test?”