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Post by sagobob on Apr 22, 2020 12:27:16 GMT -8
According to an LAT article there are no longer shortages of Covid-19 testing materials and lab capacity in California. High volume labs across the state have the capacity to run 80,000 tests per day, well above the state's goal of running 25,000 tests per day by the end of April. That means more groups of people, like nursing home employees and those with underlying health conditions that don't present symptoms can be tested.
Now what's not clear in my mind is what they're testing for. Is it only for detecting the presence of the virus' RNA in the sample? If someone tests positive, is there another test available to detect antibodies in the sample? And is there a test to determine if an already infected subject is shedding the virus and therefore needs to be isolated? Hopefully at some point in the future there will be a battery of tests to better identify the stages of the disease. It seems important to be able to sort out those who test positive in order to provide the most effective treatment.
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Post by Born2BBruin on Apr 22, 2020 12:30:23 GMT -8
The governor just said today there is a shortage of materials to perform tests.
In terms of machines, California has the capacity to process 90,000 tests per day. In terms of materials, the current capability is 16,000 tests per day, with 20,000 being the goal by the end of the month.
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Post by sagobob on Apr 22, 2020 12:54:07 GMT -8
OK. Quoting from the LAT article I used to write the post. "The move makes California the first state to broaden restrictive federal guidelines and reflects increasing availability of testing as major labs report sufficient supplies and excess capacity to run more procedures, according to the state Department of Public Health."
Where are you getting your numbers?
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DrJ
Contributing Member
Posts: 188
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Post by DrJ on Apr 22, 2020 13:10:17 GMT -8
In the news it has been swabs and reagents. The testing capacity is there but specific materials need to obtain samples and test them are in short supply. The Gov of Maryland mentioned this the other day.
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Post by Born2BBruin on Apr 22, 2020 14:00:09 GMT -8
OK. Quoting from the LAT article I used to write the post. "The move makes California the first state to broaden restrictive federal guidelines and reflects increasing availability of testing as major labs report sufficient supplies and excess capacity to run more procedures, according to the state Department of Public Health." Where are you getting your numbers? I'm getting my numbers from Governor Newsom at his daily briefing today. My numbers don't contradict the above quote. They clarify and expand on what you said earlier. Per da Guv, 6 weeks ago, our testing capacity was 2,000 tests per day. It's up to 16,000 per day now, and should be 20,000 per day next week, with a target of 60,000 to 80,000 per day by the end of May. |
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Post by blublood on Apr 22, 2020 14:56:25 GMT -8
The metaphor commonly used now is 'plenty of laserprinters; not nearly enough ink cartridges.'
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Post by sagobob on Apr 22, 2020 16:02:22 GMT -8
Thanks b2b. I guess we're looking at a moving target here, with updated information supplanting what was provided earlier. And your source is the horses mouth while mine is the LA Times. The important thing is that they're expanding testing.
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Post by sagobob on Apr 22, 2020 18:25:00 GMT -8
Thanks b2b. I guess we're looking at a moving target here, with updated information supplanting what was provided earlier. And your source is the horses mouth while mine is the LA Times. The important thing is that they're expanding testing. This is only a test to learn how the quote feature works. Please excuse the duplication. It would be nice if the forum had a "training company" that would allow one to experiment without cluttering up the main board. |
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Post by mhbruin on Apr 23, 2020 8:12:06 GMT -8
On the subject of testing, the latest "Frontline" on PBS is pretty devastating. It covers familiar territory, but with a lot of details I didn't know.
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Post by grant73 on Apr 23, 2020 9:56:56 GMT -8
PBS and NPR said the one component most difficult to ramp up supply is reagents. I've heard nothing to suggest that antibodies detection or details PLUS positive-carrier status are combined in any single current test process. I'd quote source for this except that when we monitor a dozen sources, it seems a waste of time to keep track (unless it is a quote from Pres. Malaprop, lol).
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