Testing czar says coronavirus surge is straining testing capacity

Brett Giroir, the coronavirus testing czar, said Wednesday that the United States’ coronavirus testing capacity is at risk of being overwhelmed in some states by a surge in new infections and increased surveillance efforts in nursing homes and jails.

“It is absolutely correct that some labs across the country are reaching or near capacity,” Giroir said. “Recent data from several states indicate rising infections and now an uptick in hospitalizations and death, even as other states and the great majority of counties are maintaining a low infection burden.”

The percentage of people testing positive has spiked in recent days in several states — including Arizona, Florida and Texas. That’s a sign that the virus is spreading rapidly.

Lagging labs: Commercial laboratories like Quest Diagnostics and LabCorp have warned that their turnaround times for test results are rising due to a surge in demand. Earlier this week, Quest said that it now needs an average of 3-5 days to produce results on non-priority samples, up from 2-3 days.

What’s next: Giroir emphasized that young adults, who account for the majority of new cases, must be vigilant about practicing social distancing and wearing a mask. The Department of Health and Human Services is developing plans to implement surge testing in moderate-sized communities of high concern in Texas, Florida and Louisiana, to try to bring the outbreaks in those areas under control.

“A blitz of testing over a few days could help to identify a lot of the under 35-year-old asymptomatics that may be spreading the virus,” Giroir said. “When you have a lot of younger people who are asymptomatic, particularly in an outbreak situation, it is much harder, not impossible, but much harder to contact trace.”