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Quest Diagnostics received on Tuesday Emergency Use Authorization from the US Food and Drug Administration for its SARS-CoV-2 rRT PCR test. The issuance allows Quest to provide the test for individuals suspected by their healthcare providers of having COVID-19.

Massachusetts Governor Charlie Baker pledged Thursday morning that Massachusetts would soon see an “enormous increase” in testing for coronavirus as he acknowledged that the state’s capacity to screen people remained far below what was needed to blunt the local impact of the pandemic. Baker spoke to reporters after touring the private laboratory at Quest Diagnostics, which plans to rapidly ramp up its coronavirus testing. By next week, Quest hope to preform 2,000 to 3,000 tests a day at its facility in Marlborough, according to its chief executive officer, Steve Rusckowski, who joined Baker at the press conference

Quest Diagnostics Inc. made coronavirus tests available on Monday in California as part of a broader roll-out meant to dramatically expand the U.S.’s capacity to identify new cases. The company’s effort began when the U.S. Food and Drug Administration gave companies greater leeway to develop their own tests Feb. 29, Chief Executive Officer Steve Rusckowski said in an interview. Quest sprang into action, obtaining specimens of the virus from South Korea, he said.

As Nevada manages the possible spread of the coronavirus, Gov. Steve Sisolak today announced the federal government has provisionally approved testing for the virus at commercial labs throughout the state.Sisolak at a late morning briefing said Quest Diagnostics and LabCorp will be able to test for COVID-19 in the “near future,” joining the Nevada State Public Health Laboratory at UNR and the Southern Nevada Public Health Laboratory, which each already has conducted a handful of tests leading to at least 14 negative results as of Friday.

U.S. government officials say a million promised tests for diagnosing coronavirus infections will soon be in the mail. But that still leaves many state and local laboratories without the ability to test for the virus, crucial for curbing its spread around the country.[CR-LF][CR-LF]Some states have developed their own tests. Clinical testing companies are now joining the ranks. LabCorp announced March 5 that physicians or other authorized health care providers could already order its test. Quest Diagnostics announced the same day that the company will also offer commercial tests as soon as March 9, pending U.S. Food and Drug Administration reviews. Participation of those two commercial laboratories could greatly expand testing capacity in the United States.

The Trump administration pushed back Saturday against criticism that it has been slow to deploy testing for the coronavirus on a nationwide scale.[CR-LF][CR-LF]While health officials from Washington state to Florida have expressed concern over their lack of access to testing kits, administration officials told reporters at the White House that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention had met all requests from the two states, where the virus outbreak has been most pronounced.

The number of Americans infected with the coronavirus keeps growing; so does the number of states with confirmed cases. We're going to talk now with someone who is on the frontlines, Dr. Nancy Messonnier of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The novel coronavirus (COVID-19) spreading across the world represents a distinct challenge for all physicians, especially oncologists who commonly treat patients who have compromised immune systems. The spread of the virus was discussed by Scott Gottlieb, MD, during the keynote address at the 37th Annual Miami Breast Cancer Conference®.

Some academic hospitals are developing their own tests. And commercial options are expanding really quickly. Quest Diagnostics says it will launch a coronavirus test on Monday. The company says it will be in a position to receive samples from hospitals, physician offices. And another big company, LabCorp, says it now has a test available that can be ordered by doctors, other health care providers. Now, results can take three or four days. Positive results will be reported to local health officials and to the CDC.

Since Renee Schwartz developed shortness of breath and a severe cough two weeks ago, she has been trying desperately to get a coronavirus test. She has already been tested for the flu — she was negative — and other problems have been ruled out. But while her doctor thinks a test is warranted, she told Schwartz she does not have access to any tests.[CR-LF][CR-LF]“I feel like crap,” said Schwartz, 60, of North Hills, Calif. “I want to know, why can’t I get this test?”

President Trump claimed again on Friday that anyone who needed a coronavirus test “gets a test.” But from Washington State to Florida to New York, doctors and patients are clamoring for tests that they say are in woefully short supply, and their frustration is mounting alongside the growing number of cases around the country.[CR-LF][CR-LF]In California, where thousands are being monitored for the virus, only 516 tests had been conducted by the state as of Thursday. Washington health officials have more cases than they can currently process. And in New York, where cases have quadrupled this week, a New York City official pleaded for more test kits from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

New Hampshire’s state laboratories are able to do more coronavirus testing after receiving additional supplies from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the state Health Department said Friday.[CR-LF][CR-LF]The supplies will allow the laboratories to test an additional 200 people, the department said.[CR-LF][CR-LF]Also, Quest Diagnostics, the world’s largest diagnostic testing provider, is expected to make testing available to patients through their healthcare provider as of Monday, the department said.

In a press conference late on Friday, Vice President Mike Pence said that the government will finally have the capacity to provide over 1 million tests for the novel coronavirus, COVID-19.[CR-LF][CR-LF]Joined by representatives of the Food and Drug Administration, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and the National Institute for Allergy and Infectious Diseases, the vice president detailed the continuing efforts from the White House to coordinate a response to the spread of the coronavirus.

In a growing sign of how coronavirus is disrupting California, Stanford University said Friday night that it will move classes online for the final two weeks of the winter quarter.[CR-LF][CR-LF]Stanford also said large events would be "canceled or adjusted."[CR-LF][CR-LF]"The university is actively monitoring the local and global health situation and is taking precautionary measures in an effort to help limit the spread of infection," officials said in a statement.

Coronavirus testing capacity in Connecticut will grow significantly in the coming days with two private labs initiating testing, a move that is likely to help identify positive cases in the state.[CR-LF][CR-LF]By Monday, two companies — LabCorp and Quest Diagnostics — will be processing coronavirus tests in their Connecticut laboratories, the companies said Thursday. The state public health lab in Rocky Hill is currently the sole testing provider in the state.[CR-LF][CR-LF]That means possibly dozens or hundreds of tests a day will be processed in Connecticut, up from a maximum of about 20.[CR-LF][CR-LF]Connecticut has one confirmed case of COVID-19. On Friday night, officials said a New York nurse working at Danbury and Norwalk hospitals has tested positive for the virus.

As coronavirus continues its spread across the U.S., public health officials are racing to make more test kits available and laboratories are working around the clock to test for the virus that has killed more than a dozen people in the U.S. and infected more than 230. The federal agency in charge of testing efforts, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, is under fire for what one top national health official told CNN Friday were "missteps" that slowed efforts to contain the virus.

Three states now require insurers to limit out-of-pocket costs related to coronavirus testing, and more may soon jump on board. Tests administered by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) for COVID-19, the disease caused by a new virus called SARS-CoV-2, are free. But many patients still face bills from related doctor’s appointments and hospital visits.[CR-LF][CR-LF]In Florida, a patient reported a staggering $3,270 bill after getting tested to see if he had COVID-19. A blood test confirmed he just had the flu, but then he was stuck with the bill; his catastrophic insurance plan refused to cover the balance, according to the Miami Herald.

The United States "desperately" needs more tests to screen for the new coronavirus, a public health expert told Congress on Friday.[CR-LF][CR-LF]"Testing capacity is not currently adequate, and we need more," said Dr. Lisa Maragakis, senior director of infection prevention for the Johns Hopkins Health System and an epidemiologist. "We need this as soon as we can have it."[CR-LF][CR-LF]Maragakis' remarks were part of a briefing on Capitol Hill by five experts from Johns Hopkins, which has been tracking the international outbreak.

The Trump administration has faced criticism over the availability of coronavirus test kits in the United States. Vice President Mike Pence has said any American would be able to get tested for the disease it causes, COVID-19 — but acknowledged this week, as the government raced to distribute tests, that the capacity wasn't there yet.[CR-LF][CR-LF]So what should someone do if they want to get tested?[CR-LF][CR-LF]According to the American Hospital Association, people who think they have the coronavirus should call their physician to see if a test is warranted. If so, they will direct you to an appropriate testing site.

The administration is working to quickly expand testing by making the kits more readily available to state and local laboratories across the country as the case count increases, particularly among patients who did not travel to China — the origin of the outbreak — and have no direct link to travelers.[CR-LF][CR-LF]Initially, the government limited the testing to only those exhibiting symptoms of the virus who had also traveled to China. The tests were only being performed in a handful of laboratories in certain states at first.

Public health officials have been clamoring for greater testing capacity to help them combat the spread of the new coronavirus in their communities. Now, as testing is poised to become more widely available from commercial labs, the cost of those diagnostic tests could become a factor in the effort to control the virus.[CR-LF][CR-LF]Lab Corp. announced Thursday it was immediately offering testing for COVID-19, while Quest Diagnostics said it will start testing specimens next week, increasing the options for hospitals, physicians offices and urgent care clinics.

President Trump, on a visit to the Centers for Disease Control in Atlanta, asserted that coronavirus tests are available to "anybody." "Anybody that wants a test can get a test," he said. "That's what the bottom line is."[CR-LF][CR-LF][CR-LF]And he added, "Anybody right now and yesterday, anybody that needs a test gets a test. They're there. They have the tests and the tests are beautiful. Anybody that needs a test gets a test. If there's a doctor that wants to test, if there's somebody coming off a ship like the big monster ship that's out there right now, which you know again, that's a big decision. Do I wanna bring all of those people on? People would like me to do that. I don't like the idea of doing it."

New coronavirus cases emerge across the country. Michigan is the biggest of the six primary states voting next week. And, a cease-fire between Turkey and Russia is in effect in northwestern Syria.

Nearly a week after the first U.S. coronavirus death was announced, the Trump administration scrambled Friday to meet its target for increasing the number of people able to be tested. But it still could take weeks for the actual tests to take place.[CR-LF][CR-LF]HHS Secretary Alex Azar told reporters that the government had shipped out materials for 700,000 coronavirus tests — well short of the 1.5 million that Vice President Mike Pence had said would be available to hospitals this week, in remarks on Wednesday. Late Friday, Assistant Secretary for Health Brett Giroir told POLITICO that more tests passed quality checks, bringing the total ready to 1.5 million.

Hospitals across the state are preparing for an influx of people wondering whether they’ve contracted coronavirus by making plans for “triage centers” outside their main buildings.[CR-LF][CR-LF]The centers could be tents in hospital parking lots, or temporary trailers or office space, not necessarily near the hospitals that would open them.[CR-LF][CR-LF]The extra infrastructure would be used primarily for screening and testing, not treatment, in order to keep people who think they may have contracted the COVID-19 coronavirus out of waiting rooms and emergency departments where people with otherwise compromised immune systems might be.