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CDC missteps could harm ability to track, detect coronavirus in US
[JPost] - The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) may have harmed the country's ability to track and detect the spread of the CORVID-19 disease due to a series of missteps, including refusing to use the tests recommended by the World Health Organization (WHO), according to ProPublica.As the virus began to spread, the CDC decided to start creating its own, more complicated test instead of using the test guidelines provided by the WHO. The test was made to check for a variety of different viruses. When the test was sent to labs across the country, it didn't work and falsely flagged the presence of other viruses in harmless samples. Until Wednesday, the CDC and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) only allowed state labs to use the CDC's test. As a result, local officials didn't carry out "surveillance tests" of hundreds of people in possible hotspots, a crucial first step when coping with a possible outbreak. Scott Becker, chief executive officer of the Association of Public Health Laboratories, told ProPublica that they're "weeks behind" because of the issue. "We’re usually up-front and center and ready." While the CDC announced on February 14 that surveillance testing would begin in New York, Chicago, Los Angeles, San Francisco and Seattle, the testing had yet to begin as of Friday. And that why Trump made Pence coronavirus Tzar Posted by: g(r)omgoru 2020-03-01 |
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