"The growing scarcity of these "RNA extraction" kits is the latest trouble for U.S. labs
This is all part of Incompetent #Trump denying, downplaying the severity of the problem.
Exclusive: U.S. coronavirus testing threatened by shortage of critical lab materials
https://www.politico.com/news/2020/03/10/coronavirus-testing-lab-materials-shortage-125212
The slow pace of coronavirus testing has created a major gap in the U.S. public health response.
Coronavirus lab
Public health labs across the U.S. have tested more than 5,000 people, according to the Trump administration. | California Department of Public Health via AP
By DAVID LIM and BRIANNA EHLEY 03/10/2020 06:56 PM EDT
A looming shortage in lab materials is threatening to delay coronavirus test results and cause officials to undercount the number of Americans with the virus.
The slow pace of coronavirus testing has created a major gap in the U.S. public health response. The latest problem involves an inability to prepare samples for testing, creating uncertainties in how long it will take to get results.
CDC Director Robert Redfield told POLITICO on Tuesday that he is not confident that U.S. labs have an adequate stock of the supplies used to extract genetic material from any virus in a patient’s sample — a critical step in coronavirus testing.
“The availability of those reagents is obviously being looked at,” he said, referring to the chemicals used for preparing samples. “I’m confident of the actual test that we have, but as people begin to operationalize the test, they realize there’s other things they need to do the test.”
The coronavirus task force convened by the White House is also aware of the shortages, and one official said members are working on it.
The growing scarcity of these “RNA extraction” kits is the latest trouble for U.S. labs, which have struggled to implement widespread coronavirus testing in the seven weeks since the country diagnosed its first case. Epidemiologists and public health officials say that the delayed rollout, caused in part by a botched CDC test, has masked the scope of the U.S. outbreak and hobbled efforts to limit it.................................
Public health labs across the U.S. have tested more than 5,000 people, according to the Trump administration. | California Department of Public Health via AP