Coronavirus US: ‘Tragic suffering’ inevitable without more tests

A medical doctor has issued a stark warning that the U.S. needs to immediately expand containment measures and surge testing capabilities to prevent ‘tragic suffering’ in the coronavirus pandemic.

Dr Scott Gottlieb, a former commissioner of the Food and Drug Administration and current fellow at conservative think tank the American Enterprise Institute, sounded the alarm on Thursday.

‘In U.S. we face two alternative but hard outlooks… that we follow a path similar to South Korea or one closer to Italy,’ Gottlieb wrote in a Twitter thread. 

‘We probably lost [the] chance to have an outcome like South Korea. We must do everything to avert the tragic suffering being borne by Italy,’ he said.

South Korea’s aggressive early testing and containment strategy has kept the coronavirus fatality rate there under 1 percent. Italy, on the other hand, has a fatality rate of 5 percent, compared to the global average of 3.4 percent. 

Dr Scott Gottlieb, a former commissioner of the Food and Drug Administration and current fellow at conservative think tank the American Enterprise Institute, delivered a stark warning

‘It starts with aggressive screening to get people diagnosed,’ Gottlieb continued. ‘While testing capacity expands [it’s] not evenly distributed to places most needed, we’re far behind current caseloads. [Too] many people still can’t get screened. So we can’t identify clusters and isolate disease.’

He added: ‘In some respects our fate rests on the entities that are capable of sharply ramping testing and distributing the services nationally. Academic labs can serve their institutions. Only big national clinical labs like LabCorp and Quest can fill the void. A lot rides on them now.’

In statements to DailyMail.com, LabCorp and Quest both confirmed that they are rapidly ramping up capacity of tests that physicians and hospitals can order from anywhere in the U.S.

‘We are now able to perform several thousand tests per day and are rapidly adding new equipment and staff to create additional capacity,’ said a LabCorp spokeswoman. ‘LabCorp is working seven days a week, three shifts a day to perform COVID-19 testing and to increase capacity.’

Quest said that it launched its coronavirus test on Monday, adding: ‘We expect to be able to perform tens of thousands of tests a week within the next six weeks.’ 

Both companies stressed that individuals who want to be tested for coronavirus need to first contact their physician or medical provider, who are responsible for ordering tests and sending in samples.

A Servpro worker takes off her respirator mask during a break outside Life Care Center of Kirkland, a long-term care facility linked to several confirmed coronavirus cases in Washington

Quest and LabCorp confirm that their coronavirus tests have launched and are rapidly scaling 

Full statement of Quest Diagnostics to DailyMail.com: 

‘On March 9, 2020, Quest Diagnostics introduced a new COVID-19 lab-developed test. Providers anywhere in the U.S. are now able to order the new test service. We are also scaling capacity now with the aim to validate and perform testing at other Quest Diagnostics high-complexity laboratories serving the United States. We expect to be able to perform tens of thousands of tests a week within the next six weeks.

‘The Quest Diagnostics’ SARS-CoV-2 RNA, Qualitative Real-Time RT-PCR aids the presumptive detection of nucleic acid in respiratory specimens of patients meeting the clinical criteria of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) for COVID-19 testing.

‘The test is performed on respiratory specimens collected by healthcare providers and forwarded to Quest Diagnostics. Providers should not refer any patient suspected of (persons under investigation) or confirmed to be infected with COVID-19 to a Quest Diagnostics Patient Service Center or other phlebotomy site.’

Full statement of LabCorp to DailyMail.com 

‘LabCorp is working 7 days a week, 3 shifts a day to perform COVID-19 testing and to increase capacity. We are now able to perform several thousand tests per day and are rapidly adding new equipment and staff to create additional capacity. 

‘LabCorp continues to perform its 2019 Novel Coronavirus (COVID-19) test and to increase test capacity for patients who should be tested. We are working closely with the CDC, FDA and others on a swift response to address this public health crisis. Our team is proud to play an important role as part of an industry consortium that is working every day to meet the growing demand for national testing. Our utmost concern is for the safety of the public, patients, healthcare service providers, and our employees.

‘LabCorp made its COVID-19 test available on Thursday, March 5, and began receiving specimens in the lab the next day, with more coming since then. We are testing specimens and reporting results to the ordering clinicians and to public health authorities as may be required. LabCorp is now able to perform several thousand tests per day and is rapidly adding new equipment and staff to create additional capacity. We continue reviewing all opportunities to expand testing at LabCorp lab facilities across the country.

‘LabCorp’s test detects the presence of the underlying virus that causes COVID-19 and is for use with patients who meet guidance for testing. At this time, the test can be ordered anywhere in the U.S. by physicians or other healthcare providers. Patients for whom testing has been ordered should not be sent to a LabCorp location to have a specimen collected. The specimen must be collected by the ordering clinician and then be sent to LabCorp using standard procedures. The turnaround time to provide test results is typically three to four days from the pickup of the specimen to release of the test result.’

Gottlieb continued on Twitter: ‘These are great American companies led by outstanding management teams, staffed with deeply committed, public health mind people who live in communities hurt by this virus. The national interest turns on their efforts. We must scale their ability to sharply expand screening 

‘That means getting diagnostic kits approved that the companies can run on their automated platforms to dramatically scale testing. Only these big national chains have throughput, scale, and ordering systems to fill the void that was created. We look to them now. We need them,’ he said.

‘Public health labs have been an outstanding pillar. They’re working around the clock. They’re the nation’s backbone of response. But they aren’t richly funded and are being maxed out against current facilities. Only clinical labs have ability to sharply scale the efforts,’ Gottlieb continued.  

The doctor went on to say that containment measures need to be expanded dramatically, including banning small gatherings and parties. 

‘Business is leading the way on mitigation and social distancing, filling a void left by policy makers. But shutting down NBA games is not enough. This must be practiced in places large and small. Small gatherings, parties, all should be postponed for the next month or two,’ he said.

‘Social separation works. Every day we delay hard decisions, every day leaders don’t demand collective action, the depth of epidemic will be larger. We must act now. We have narrow window to avert a worse outcome. The virus is firmly rooted in our cities. We’re losing time,’ he said.

Gottlieb continued by saying that it is critical for the U.S. to surge hospital capacity to prepare for an influx of critical patients.

‘We need to create surge capacity in hospitals. Congress must support the effort. Patients and providers can too,’ he said.

‘Elective procedures should be postponed for next few months. Hospitals should lower volumes everywhere they can. We need to prepare for an influx of cases,’ Gottlieb wrote. 

The U.S. has about 330,000 hospital beds available at any given time under normal circumstances. If current trend lines continue, experts fear that the hospital system could quickly become overwhelmed with critical coronavirus patients. 

Read more at DailyMail.co.uk