The Latest Obstacle to Getting Tested? A Shortage of Swabs and Face Masks.
At the University of California San Francisco Health — a hospital system at the heart of one of the nation’s coronavirus outbreaks — officials said they would have to stop testing patients in about five days because they will run out of nasopharyngeal swabs, which are inserted into the nasal passage of patients to get samples for testing. Other hospitals elsewhere in the country were ending their practice of using a second swab to test for the flu in an effort to preserve their supply.
The main manufacturer of the swabs, Copan, is an Italian company whose manufacturing plant is in Northern Italy, a region that has itself been hard hit by the coronavirus outbreak.
Making matters more difficult, the swabs must have just the right ingredients — the shafts cannot be wood, for example — or the virus might not be properly detected. “You can’t go to your local store and get Q-tips,” he said.
Dr. Ulrike Sujansky, a physician in solo private practice in San Mateo, Calif., one of the areas with the most cases, said she has only been able to test a few patients because of problems with supplies.
“We cannot test. We cannot test,” she said. The swab kits she ordered from the two biggest lab companies, LabCorp and Quest Diagnostics, either arrived late or were not the right type, she said. She also does not have adequate masks or protective supplies, despite weeks of efforts to purchase them and recent appeals to state and local health authorities and hospitals. “I’m not given any tools to deal with this complete crisis.”
A shortage of masks, gowns and other protective gear — which has put a strain on many other areas of care — is also getting in the way of testing.
March 6 Testing Flashback Lie
Lie Exposed March 12
Pressed about limited availability of coronavirus tests, CDC Dir. Robert Redfield turns to NIH official Dr. Anthony Fauci, who says, “The system is not really geared to what we need right now, what you are asking for. That is a failing…Let’s admit it.”
Synopsis
On March 6, Trump proclaimed “Anyone that needs a test gets one. And the tests are all perfect.”
The Congressional record shows we still could not test by March 12.
By the way, There Aren’t Enough Ventilators to Cope With the Coronavirus either.
Test Kits from Italy
Fox News just reported Air Force flew 500,000 coronavirus test swabs from Italy to Tennessee
Gen. David Goldfein told reporters at the Pentagon that the swabs landed in Memphis on Monday. They were transported across the Atlantic on an Air Force C-17 cargo plane and now will be distributed around the country, people familiar with the mission told Defense One.
If accurate, that’s good news.
Mike “Mish” Shedlock
EVERYTHING is running out Mish, I wish I could upload the photos I just took in Walmart for you, there is nothing on the shelves and it has been like that for 3 weeks. A few odds and ends that nobody wants even in a crisis, but the frozen food section is empty, processed meats all gone, I am now officially out of anything at all for disinfecting hands and that just means I am probably going to get sick because I CAN’T properly clean after going into a public place. I happened to mention to the self check out clerk that Walmart needs to get it’s shit together and she just blabbed on defensively about it not being their fault. I said NO EXCUSES, I am mad for a damned good reason and that needs to be relayed to your superiors, if they can’t stock the shelves they need to just close the fucking store. I have looked in at least 20 different stores for something to disinfect with and zip NOTHING. Not to mention that was 20 more chances to pick up virus. OMINOUSLY I have not seen eggs on the shelf in 2 weeks.
Good article in the Asia Times on why South Korea did so well. Key points:
All across East Asia, SARS was top of mind as soon as news, or even rumors, about a new respiratory virus emerged.
SARS was extremely lethal and many were a bit concerned about China under reporting carnage related to this new one (body bags and crematoriums….). So very quick measures were taken right away. None of the “but Chinamen have poor hygiene and smoke a lot and eat live bats, it’s just a cold, we have the best healthcare, we’ll be fine, don’t rock ‘the market’” nonsense which slowed down responses in The West.
In addition, East Asia is also more resource rich than elsewhere. They have suppliers for most things closer, and suppliers of “everything” speak their language and share their timezone. And they have huge workforces and institutions capable of designing and producing valuable stuff quickly and efficiently. With very few bottlenecks.
While America have pockets of world beating excellence, those are just tiny outposts, in a sea of abject incompetents who “manage money”, pick random numbers, screech about their “rights” and “I’m a snowflake” privileges, and sit on their rears waiting for Powell and wall fungi to “make my home go up.” So once one of those excellences need a cotton swab from outside ther own lab or office, that seemingly simple thing is 12 timezones, language barriers, and 85,000 pages of mindless “laws,” regulations and tariffs away.
It is not just NP swabs in short supply. I work in a molecular biology testing lab and bleach is running low. We use a large quantity of bleach up to 50% dilution depending on the area/organism, etc. Instrument lines need to be bleached as well as benches, keyboards, mice, etc.
It is not surprising that supplies are low as demand is higher than normal.
Here’s my conspiracy theory. The supply came via Italy, from the Chinese. Trump can’t be seen begging on his knees, but we probably sent out the last of our Fort Knox gold for this. In other words, for once we are WINNING since there is no Fort Knox gold.
He could offer Xi our carrier groups, in exchange for just taking over the entire US Corona response, period. Would save a lot of Americans’ lives that way.
Lets see, South Korea and the US had their first cases on the SAME day. South Korea has tested over 250,000 people since then. The US has tested under 25,000.
Now which country reacted promptly?
South Korea had already had a dry run with SARS. That helped a lot.
But the US has lengthy experience of handling swine flu H1N1
njbr, check your numbers, has tested almost 70,000 as of yesterday the 18th
njbr, check your numbers US has tested almost 70.000 as of the 18th
For-profit healthcare.
You’re what’s for dinner.
Hence, I do not have healthcare insurance. It would cost me $750 a month with a $3,000 yearly deductible. That is not healthcare coverage, this is catastrophic insurance. And I’m under 60 years of age.
How in the hell did this happen? We have to import these test kits from Italy? The U.S. should be the leader with this testing. Somebody dropped the ball on this one.
Just In Time remember? Just In Time to self destruct that is. When you pray at the altar of efficiency, by the very definition, it will efficiently screw you.
Here’s my conspiracy theory. This came via Italy, from the Chinese. Trump can’t be seen begging on his knees, but we probably sent out the last of our Fort Knox gold for this.
“The U.S. should be the leader with this testing.”
Why?
Because the US used to be an advanced country, 50 years ago? Like Greece and Egypt once were?
“We” are idle retards, dumb enough to believe the roaches in the walls of our “homes” create value now. And that The Fed printing money to pump up “our portfolios” magically “create wealth.” And corollarily, that more accurately and correctly valuing houses and company shares, somehow “destroys wealth….”, hence is somehow a “bad” thing.
That’s America anno now. The “leading” which America was once known for, was over and done with, by the time Nixon went full retard. And realized his underlings were even more retarded, hence kept cheering him on. Ever since, we’ve been a second rate dump, by now to such an extent that we are the incompetent laughing stock of even a bunch of commies. Who are, by now, better than “us” at pretty much anything, period.
Hmmm, I think it lasted a little bit longer. But certainly by the end of the 1980s…
Forget where, but a reporter did a drive-through swab. Problem? While #CONVID19 is in fact free, they test to exclude other issues. What does this mean? It’s a two-prong test, one is paid for, the other to eliminate another health issue is not effecting you – You can/will be charged for that test ($280). Brilliant.
Update on hydroxychloriquine and zinc… also Azithromycin https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AToF8O5T86s
While this is not related to swabs, it is to supply chain disruptions. One of our large local supermarkets has bare shelves of almost any and everything. One of the employees helping us said that their primary supplier, URM, is rationing stock. The store is only getting 25% of their weekly order, and spotty at that.
Russia deploying coronavirus disinformation to sow panic in West, EU document says
No need for Russians. With anti-vaxers, people who don’t believe in evolution as a proven scientific theory, flat-earthers and aliens-amongst-us types, and people who believe in Donald Trump, America will likely be consumed by Covid-19. DJ-30 to year 1999 levels by year end. Bet on it, I am.
We can’t test. And running out of masks will expose our front line health workers to certain risks thereby making testing almost impossible.
I now see an end to the “epidemic” in 5 days. Put on your Call Options people and start shorting the VIX. You might still get to the poor house, but you’ll get there in spectacular style!!!!
lol! For the first time ever, I bought a reverse bear ETF, overpaid for it (in today’s volatile market if you put in an order at market price, it seems the market makers screw you by giving you a price that’s the high for the day, a ripoff), but still about broke even the close.
I understand the hysteresis in reverse ETFs but I am betting the hysterics when America realizes that Covid-19 cannot be stopped, in China, will cause the DJ-30 to go to year 1999 levels (under 10k).
-RL
The coronavirus will be here for “many, many months” and the country must decide on a path forward, infectious disease specialist Michael Osterholm told CNBC on Tuesday (3/17/2020) “As soon as China goes back to work and people are on subways and trains, … we are going to see a resurgence of cases back in China,” he said.
Osterholm said a balance needs to be struck that effectively prevents the spread of the virus while also being sustainable enough to last until a vaccine is developed.
Osterholm served as a science envoy for health security on behalf of the State Department from 2018 to 2019 and is author of the 2017 book, “Deadliest Enemy: Our War Against Killer Germs.”
You are gambling.
Good luck.
If we can’t test, that’ll keep the numbers down. It’s a win!
Swabs? Another win for globalization. Coming out of this countries should reconsider outsourcing everything, or at a minimum making sure there are multiple sources of supply in different places.
Individuals, then local communities, local and regional militias, cities, states, the Feds and ultimately the UN, all should maintain overlapping buffers of consequence mitigating stuff.
Every individual doesn’t need a factory producing stuff. Although a bit more distribution wouldn’t hurt (easily accomplished without any coercion, by simply throwing “fixed” costs like IP laws, expensive-to-comply-with regulations including tarriffs, de facto mandatory insurance against ambulance chaser shakedowns, easy credit leading to concentrated ownerhsip etc., in the trash, where all such nonsense belong.) But everyone needs buffers to cushion shocks. At every level.
Trump, Pence, and Fauci seem like the 3 Stooges.
I’m not so sure about Fauci. I’ve not seen him on TV, but in print he seems logical enough. In fact, if Dr. Anthony Fauci replaces Donald Trump for the November elections, the Republicans might have a chance at upsetting Biden.
Fauci has been very impressive throughout this process.
Pressed about limited availability of coronavirus tests, CDC Dir. Robert Redfield turns to NIH official Dr. Anthony Fauci, who says, “The system is not really geared to what we need right now, what you are asking for. That is a failing…Let’s admit it.”
And that system is: “Testing in the United States was fraught with difficulty in large part due to the slow approval by the Food and Drug Administration to allow testing kits developed by private companies outside of the government controlled CDC to be used at a local or national level. Those FDA policies are consistent with the Obama Administration’s response to H1N1 and Ebola in 2009 and 2014 respectively.”
Policies already previously in place, along with their respective red tape.
See this: https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2020/03/16/no-white-house-didnt-dissolve-its-pandemic-response-office/
Seems to me that the FDA now exists to grant monopoly market positions to favored companies. Fascism at work.