The four-day delay in testing a Northern California patient who appears to be the first in the United States to contract the coronavirus from community contact highlights growing questions about the federal government’s testing policies and protocols as the virus continues to spread.
A growing number of experts have said problems with the test process — including ineffective test kits and restrictive rules on who gets tested — could be fueling the undetected spread of the virus.
“When you miss cases, you can’t isolate them, test their families or get a hold on this before it keeps spreading,” said Jennifer Nuzzo, an epidemiology expert at the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security.
Until Thursday, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention restricted coronavirus testing to patients with clear symptoms of infection who have either traveled to China recently or who have been in contact with someone who has tested positive for the virus. As the virus outpaced detection efforts around the world, that gateway to testing proved far too narrow.
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