Media Coverage

Lab operators Quest Diagnostics Inc and OPKO Health Inc said on Thursday they would be able to begin testing for coronavirus from next week, as the U.S. government ramps up efforts to increase diagnostic capabilities.

Despite intense scrutiny and criticism of the diagnostic testing rollout in the US for the SARS-CoV-2 virus, the emergency regulatory process may actually be proceeding at a much more rapid pace than past emergencies, which did not involve newly-emerged pathogens.[CR-LF][CR-LF]Commercial tests in development to date have faced bottlenecks in test validation, but the logjam now appears to be clearing with new US Food and Drug Administration feedback and the availability of control materials.

After a weekslong delay, thousands of coronavirus test kits are headed to state and local laboratories, Vice President Mike Pence said Wednesday.[CR-LF][CR-LF]But questions remain about when, exactly, those promised test kits will arrive and how well they will work.

The Trump administration met with private lab test developers on Wednesday to discuss increasing the availability of tests for the coronavirus and said that the companies had formed a consortium. Vice President Mike Pence said the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services has included coronavirus testing as an essential health benefit for health plans in a bid to increase Americans’ access to tests.[CR-LF][CR-LF]“We want every American to have access to testing,” Pence said.

Thanks, Mr. Vice President. I appreciate the opportunity and your leadership on this matter. We understand this a public health issue that we all have a role in, and we’re deeply committed to working through this together.[CR-LF][CR-LF]We also appreciate the support of the FDA and the Centers for Disease Control. They’ve been very good partners in this regard. And particularly over the weekend — the decision that was made to give us — a decision that accelerated our path to bringing tests to the market place. As Adam said, we’re validating it as we speak. And, hopefully, by the next week, we’ll able to ramp that up at a number of our laboratories throughout this country.

President Trump and Vice President Pence hold a White House briefing with airline CEOs and diagnostic lab CEOs on coronavirus. There are at least 100 confirmed cases in the country, along with nine deaths, but some experts have suggested that the real number may be considerably higher if testing is expanded.

Following ongoing developments related to COVID-19 testing and response, included below is a statement from ACLA President Julie Khani following today’s meeting with the White House’s Coronavirus Task Force:[CR-LF][CR-LF]“We appreciated the opportunity to meet with Vice President Pence and members of the White House’s Coronavirus Task Force this afternoon on the critical issues related to testing capacity. As an industry, clinical labs have taken steps to meet the growing demand for national testing and are working together with the Administration, the CDC and FDA as well as state and local public health labs, hospitals and academic medical centers.

FDA Commissioner Stephen Hahn said Monday that, by the end of the week, U.S. labs would have enough materials to perform close to 1 million tests. Public health experts say that figure is misleading because it is far larger than the number of samples that can be processed in labs in the coming weeks.[CR-LF][CR-LF]The realistic estimate is now likely around 5,000 each day, according to a public health lab industry group.

With legal marijuana use laws continuing to make traction throughout the U.S., and the perception of a dwindling job applicant pool, some employers are asking if they should continue to conduct screening for marijuana. Some employers are also challenging the entire idea of performing drug testing in their workplaces. Is there still a benefit to having a drug-free workplace program?

It could be weeks before the United States can meet the demand for coronavirus testing because doctors, hospitals and some public health labs say they aren’t set up yet to do the tests.[CR-LF][CR-LF]Ratcheting up the country’s ability to detect the disease is crucial to understand how the coronavirus — now confirmed in at least 12 states — is spreading. But testing so far has been severely limited by problems with a diagnostic test developed by CDC.