Consider This from NPR - Why Testing Is Still So Far Behind

Episode Date: April 20, 2020

President Trump's guidelines for reopening the country put the onus on governors across the nation. But many say they don't have enough testing supplies to reopen their states.A Harvard infectious disease specialist explains why testing in the United States is still a problem. Plus, a couple share the lessons they learned from the 1918 flu pandemic. (He's 107-years-old. She's 100.) Find and support your local public radio stationSign up for 'The New Normal' newsletterThis episode was recorded and published as part of this podcast's former 'Coronavirus Daily' format.Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

It has now been three months since the first case of the coronavirus was detected in the United States. That was January 21st in Washington state. So, three months and the U.S. is still not testing enough people. How do you know you're testing enough people? Well, you probably know because you're not finding very much disease. That's Dr. Rochelle Walensky, a top infectious disease specialist at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston. In Massachusetts, the last numbers we had, 25 percent of people we tested were positive. South Korea, they have three percent positive rate. Coming up, why testing

is still such a problem and lessons from a couple who remember another pandemic in another century. This is Coronavirus Daily from NPR. I'm Kelly McEvers. It's Monday, April 20th. This message comes from WISE, the app for doing things in other currencies. Send, spend, or receive money internationally, and always get the real-time mid-market exchange rate with no hidden fees. Download the WISE app today or visit WISE.com. T's and C's apply. You want to be in charge? Fine. You be in charge. That was the president's message to state governors on Sunday. You must remember that the governors wanted to have total control over the opening of their states, but now they want to have us, the federal government, do the testing.

And again, testing is local. You can't have it both ways. Testing is a local thing. Governors have been all over cable news, arguing it makes no sense for states to lead on a national problem. That's just delusional to be making statements like that. We have been fighting. Virginia Governor Ralph Northam said he doesn't have enough swabs. We've been fighting for testing. It's not a straightforward test. Maryland Governor Larry Hogan said a lack of testing is the number one problem in America. I've repeatedly made this argument to the leaders in Washington on behalf of the rest of the governors in America. In fact, Hogan had to work out his own deal to get test kits from South Korea,

while Ohio Governor Mike DeWine begged the FDA for help getting critical testing supplies. We have a shortage, worldwide shortage, of some of the materials that go into this. So we really need help. Anybody in the FDA is watching. This would really take our capacity up, literally, Chuck, overnight. And that's what we need to get through in Ohio. And it's not just the states that are under stress. Even the U.S. military doesn't have the supplies to test those in the most critical positions.

Not saying that the people out there are not correct in what they feel they need. On Monday, Dr. Anthony Fauci said the focus is on helping states do more testing with what they already have. And, you know, the governors do say appropriately, well, maybe there's untapped capacity, but how do we get to it? So we've really got to help them to get to it. And that's what's being done right now, to try to make the connectivity. But the bottom line is, the federal government's own reopening guidelines call for more testing. A lot more testing.

The testing is truly an embarrassment and has slowed down the response at every level. We're in a way flying blind. Harvard infectious disease specialist Barry Bloom says the lack of testing means still, after three months, we have no idea how many people are sick or how transmissible this virus actually is. He talked to host Lulu Garcia Navarro on Weekend Edition about why testing is still such a problem. There are a couple of reasons. One is that we waited, I think, unfortunately, in the beginning to have all the tests done at CDC.

And when their test had problems, that slowed us down by weeks. So every week means many, many more cases. In six weeks, you can go from 100,000 to 65,000 cases. That's been, to an extent, changed in the sense that now there are large-scale commercial testings just brought on board. But the test that is being used is complicated. It requires technical stuff that is not something people can do in their houses. And so the next phase, if we're really going to get on top of testing, is to be able to have people prepare samples at home on a regular basis because one test isn't a guarantee that next week or next month we will not be infected. This becomes particularly crucial because we saw a study out of Stanford this past week that found that coronavirus cases could be 50 to 85 times higher than previously thought. It hasn't yet been peer reviewed. From what you know

about the virus, is it likely that we're vastly underestimating how widespread it is? It is almost certain that we're underestimating how prevalent it is, particularly with people who are not sick, but feel perfectly well. Many of those will become sick. And one of the enormous challenges is we have to think three weeks and four weeks ahead. What we see today is seeding what we will see four weeks from now. And the only way if you run a business or something that the public is exposed to, you're going to have to know what that percentage of people going to your business are or working in your police for are test positive.

And that means an enormous amount more testing. How far away do you think we are from getting where we need to be? I remain optimistic about the development of new and more rapid tests. And I'm hopeful that the people most exposed, the hospital workers, bus drivers, policemen, firemen, they really need to be tested because they're out on the front lines every day. For the rest, we don't need to test everybody immediately, but we need to get accurate sampling within a city, within a community to know what the local problems are to enable the state governments to decide how and when to release the stringencies.

Harvard professor Barry Bloom talking to Weekend Edition host Lulu Garcia Navarro. When the 1918 flu pandemic broke out, Joe Newman was five years old. Today, he is 107. And he lives in a community of seniors in Sarasota, Florida, with his fiancée, Anita Sampson. Anita just turned 100. And the two had planned a big party with cake and karaoke, but because of the coronavirus, the party was canceled, and now they're in lockdown. Together. Well, first of all, I woke up this morning

and I was glad when I saw you open your eyes, and every morning we both always check to see if we're still breathing before we get out of bed. Yes, yes. As part of a new series called Hunker Down Diaries, the producers at Radio Diaries sent the couple a recorder, well sanitized, so they could talk about how they're dealing with the pandemic. It's another event. It's another event. It's another problem. Over 107 years, I've faced other problems.

Living is a problem, especially the fact that it's supposed to affect the elderly more than those younger. And, well, you have to remember, I'm a little bit older than you are. And being my age, it's hard to say this, but you have days when you would almost welcome death because you figure, well, you've been here long enough, so be it. What's your reaction? Well, about two weeks before we were told that we had to stay in our apartments,

I had gotten a cold, and I was really scared that this was happening to me. Fortunately, it was just a mild cold. But I was getting anxious because I wanted to reach 100. All of a sudden, it became very important to me. And all of a sudden, I didn't want to die. You know, this is new to me. You've always indicated to me that you had no fear. You know, the reason why I don't want to die is because I like being around you. I like being around you. I like being in this relationship, and I really don't want it to stop.

Well, that's the best thing I've heard in the last two hours. But do you love me? Do I love you? I think so. I think so I think so in spite of our age spite of the fact that together we're 207 you know the years that we can look forward to whatever they be whether they be many or few and even if they're just days you know to look forward to them and then hope for another one. Isn't that beautiful? I think they've been reminiscing enough and I think it's time for a laugh. All right. Joe Newman and Anita Sampson part of Hunker Down Diaries from the producers at Radio Diaries you can find a link to more of their conversation in our episode notes

okay just two things if you are having groceries delivered first remember to tip your delivery worker and second make sure you're placing the right order. My husband, when I walked in the door, was eating. And I said, oh my gosh, did my bananas come? Ryan Chippendale of Boston meant to order a few bananas on Amazon Fresh. And he said, oh Ryan, did they ever? Instead, she ordered 10 bunches. I meant to order two bananas.

Amanda Vaughn outside St. Louis. Made the same mistake. And if you're on the other side of the transaction, like Instacart shopper Alicia near Ann Arbor. So I make up, you know, things in my head when I go shopping. I'm like, maybe they're making lots of banana breads for their neighbors. Maybe they're juicing this week. In other words, double-check your bananas, people. Our friends at Weekend Edition

collected those stories. For more on the coronavirus, follow NPR's coverage on your local public radio station. I'm Kelly McEvers. Thanks for listening to the show. We'll be back with more tomorrow.