Experts are warning that, without enough coronavirus testing, reopening the economy will accelerate the spread of the virus. New research is now highlighting how the US is operating at half potential testing capacity.
New survey data conducted on more than 4,000 researchers across the US indicates the country is not optimizing its ability to test new cases of the coronavirus. Lack of coordination between different organizations was cited as the leading cause of fewer tests across the states.
Need for more coronavirus testing
The research was prompted by a survey conducted by the Nature Investigation on 9th April that found out that university labs having regulatory approval were operating at half their potential capacity. The Nature Investigation survey showed thousand of tests were unused and sitting in labs unutilized.
With ideas of reopening the economies being floated by the White House and some states starting to relax lockdown regulations, experts agree more tests are needed. They have warned that reopening the economy without enough test would result in a much worse second wave of coronavirus spread in the US.
Shared living facilities, nursing homes, and homeless shelters have reported a lack of tests and the spread of coronavirus.
Data on researchers about US testing potential
Out of 4,086 researchers surveyed, only 130 researchers were carrying out coronavirus tests. A further 1,600 indicated they had all the tools required to run the tests but were not running the tests.
The breakdown of the data showed that 3.2 percent of these researchers were conducting coronavirus tests, 39 percent had the ability for coronavirus testing but were not testing and 57.8 percent of the respondents indicated their labs had no capacity to test for coronavirus.
When these researchers, both those testing and those who could be testing, were asked what problems they were encountering while testing, they responded by saying they needed more resources such as reagents and funding. 95 percent of those not testing but have the ability to test indicated they were being hindered by the complex protocols involved in testing.
The US has over 800,000 coronavirus cases and 45,343 fatalities due to coronavirus. The country has already outlined a path on how they will reopen the country and state governors have already started reopening some parts of the economy.
Featured image by Pixabay
