Posted on 03/24/2020 11:19:36 PM PDT by FoxInSocks
On Friday, New York City's health department sent out a health alert to thousands of physicians instructing them to only test for COVID-19 in patients that require hospitalization.
The advisory said: "Persons with COVID-like illness not requiring hospitalization should be instructed to stay home. It is safer for the patients and health care workers and testing does not currently change clinical management or recommendations about staying home."
The advisory suggested the only justification for alternate testing venues would be for hospital systems trying to offload testing activities so they do not put too much stress on emergency departments.
Aside from patient and health care worker safety, the city is also discouraging the use of high-volume testing sites because they burn though the chemicals used to extract genetic material from the coronavirus.
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Drive-Thru Testing 'Irresponsible and Dangerous'
The latest advisory comes as the total number of positive COVID-19 cases in New York Friday accounted for nearly half of all confirmed cases in the country, Gov. Cuomo said -- proof that the state's testing capacity has improved since the start of the novel coronavirus outbreak.
But not all medical professionals think increased testing is good news.
Laboratory Director for the NYC Department of Health Jennifer Rakeman worries the flood of people looking for testing could do more harm than good.
"There was a point where doing more testing was helpful because that might help us, when there’s not a lot of cases, to find where there might be cases to see if there’s something for some sort of containment. But we’re past that now,” Rakeman said in an interview with News 4.
Testing has shot up thanks to the construction of mobile testing sites at hospitals as well as community-based health centers and drive-thru testing facilities, of which there are roughly a dozen scattered across the tri-state (tests are done by appointment only).
"Right now, personal protective equipment required by healthcare workers to take care of sick patients is critically, critically low. We’re going to run out of PPE and every little bit of PPE that’s being used to test a patient who really doesn’t need a test is taking away from PPE that a healthcare worker needs to take care of a seriously ill patient," Rakeman said.
On Thursday, New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio urged the federal government to supply desperately needed medical supplies. According to the mayor, the city is "two weeks or three weeks away from running out of supplies."
In his Thursday evening address, de Blasio said the city needs 3 million masks, 50 million surgical masks, 15,000 ventilators, and 25 million surgical gowns, coveralls, gloves and face masks.
The situation was dire enough in New Jersey that a new drive-thru testing facility that opened in Paramus Friday morning had to close by lunchtime due to hitting its capacity. Gov. Phil Murphy said it will reopen Saturday morning and will go up until 350 tests.
"I don’t see value in those drive-up testing centers. In fact, they are, I feel irresponsible and dangerous at this point – because they are using up things like masks and gloves that are important for healthcare workers and are more important as we see more serious cases throughout the city that need hospital care," Rakeman said.
Rakeman also says people with mild to moderate symptoms should stay home.
“We know that the circulating virus right now that’s causing respiratory like illness or flu-like illnesses is COVID-19. You don’t need a test to tell you that," she said.
"And when patients are going to urgent care centers or their private physician’s office or a drive thru testing center, they’re putting other people at risk because they’re traveling to that site or going to that site and interacting with other people."
She said, “We know that the circulating virus right now that’s causing respiratory like illness or flu-like illnesses is COVID-19. You don’t need a test to tell you that," she said.
Perhaps NYC has such large reported numbers because they report any respiratory or flu case as Coronavirus.
I agree with her that people don’t need to go find a test site just because they’re curious whether or not they’ll test positive. If they test positive, though, how cool would that be to tell their friends?!
To be honest, I think this is what China did also.
I think it’s what its reports indicate.
This is what every sane State is basically doing. We just had our first confirmed case in Mohave County, AZ tonight. We follow the State guidelines which say that after one confirmed case all non essential businesses need to close. I hate it, but it has to happen now. We are on the border of NV and CA. We are seeing lots of people coming to our County to recreate. Can’t have it right now. They are bringing the virus in.
“...Aside from patient and health care worker safety, the city is also discouraging the use of high-volume testing sites because they burn though the chemicals used to extract genetic material from the coronavirus....”
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How about requesting increased production and supply of the chemicals?
” But we’re past that now,”
Nobody believes or trusts those who are failing.
Those chemicals are the subject of a global shortage. On the phone News 4 spoke with a German company called Qiagen, struggling to ramp up production of buffers and reagents needed to supply the whole world with COVID-19 tests.
"The output has already increased by 70 percent. We've already shipped twice as many extraction kits to the United States as we did in 2019," said Dr. Thomas Theuringer, a spokesperson for Qiagen.
No. COVID-19 symptoms are quite different from flu symptoms, and the doctors can see the obvious and distinct infection in the lungs.
Also, it doesn’t make sense to test the general population, because the extent of the spread depends on the absence, presence or extents of restrictions against spreading it.
Herd immunity?
Colorado is doing the same. However there is still plenty of flu and rsv causing respiratory illness as well. Right now it is taking us 4-6 days to get a covid 19 result
This makes me wonder what criteria NYC is using to report COVID-19 cases. NYC currently reports 15,000 known cases; New York state reports over 25,000 total. NYC is very crowded, so 15,000 isn’t necessarily unbelievable to me — I’m just saying.
You also see patchy ground glass infiltrates with influenza and rsv
Testing is key.
All across America.
The NIH/FDA?CDC have FAILED. Big Time.
That is unacceptable.
Dr. Fauxy fault.
So I guess the thinking is 'why test an infested population ... who really cares at that point, if they haven't already been exposed, they will be exposed no matter how hard we try.'
Thanks...good information. Hopefully the German company will continue to further increase its production capacity.
It will make sense in the next phase, when those not infected will go about their lives, and only those infected will be quarantined.
False, Especially in the less affected geographical areas of the US.
We want to be left alone. That NYC, LA, SFC and SEA are screwing us if very problematic.
Testing in the more "remote" areas could actually lead to containment and snuffing,.
That's about to change.
That’s what I have been hearing for 2 weeks
China has done something to change estimations downward to one percent death rate
Here in Nashville 252 cases and only two serious enough for hospitalization so far
This is what has skewed the facts on this so much erratic confirmations and death rates as compared to other respiratory viral contagions
And caused the panic along with the media which should be charged
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