A dive into how the United States responded to an emerging pandemic and the pitfalls along the way that led to stalled testing capacity across the country before community transmission was confirmed. Hear what led us to our current situation, what continues to be an issue and new technologies on the horizon as well as how the rest of the world has responded.

Host: Elizabeth Esty, MD

Research By: Mason Tuttle

Sound Editing By: Stephen Bahmani

References:

Shear M, Goodnough A, Kaplan S, Fink S, Thomas K, Weiland N. The Lost Month: How a Failure to Test Blinded the U.S. to Covid-19. The New York Times. https://www.nytimes.com/2020/03/28/us/testing-coronavirus-pandemic.html?smid=nytcore-ios-share. Published March 28, 2020.
Topol E. US Betrays Healthcare Workers in Coronavirus Disaster. MedScape. https://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/927811. Published March 30, 2020.
Abbott. DETECT COVID-19 IN AS LITTLE AS 5 MINUTES. https://www.abbott.com/corpnewsroom/product-and-innovation/detect-covid-19-in-as-little-as-5-minutes.html. Published March 27, 2020.
Abdelmalek M, David E, Margolin J. Why coronavirus antibody testing in one Colorado town could provide a way forward. ABC News. https://abcnews.go.com/Health/antibody-testing-colorado-town-provide-forward/story?id=69856623. Published March 28, 2020.
Kuznia R, Devine C, Griffin D. Severe shortages of swabs and other supplies hamper coronavirus testing. CNN. https://www.cnn.com/2020/03/18/us/coronovirus-testing-supply-shortages-invs/index.html. Published March 18, 2020.
Judd D, Zaslav A, Diaz D. America is ramping up Covid-19 testing, but a shortage of basic supplies is limiting capabilities. CNN. https://www.cnn.com/2020/03/28/politics/coronavirus-swabs-supplies-shortage-states/index.html. Published March 28, 2020.
Haug G. "A game changer": FDA authorizes Abbott Labs' portable, 5-minute coronavirus test the size of a toaster. USA Today. https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/health/2020/03/28/coronavirus-fda-authorizes-abbott-labs-fast-portable-covid-test/2932766001/. Published March 28, 2020.
Hasell J, Roser M, Ortiz-Ospina E. Data on COVID-19 testing. Our World In Data. https://ourworldindata.org/covid-testing. Published March 28, 2020.
Hale T. Iceland's Prolific COVID-19 Testing Is Telling Us A Lot About The Outbreak. IFLScience! https://www.iflscience.com/health-and-medicine/icelands-prolific-covid19-testing-is-telling-us-a-lot-about-the-outbreak/. Published March 27, 2020.

Tuesday, Oct. 31, 2023