CoVid19 Part X - 1,564 cases ROI (9 deaths) 209 in NI (7 deaths) (25 March) *Read OP*

This is an extract from an article that is a good overall summary re covid 19.
This bit is about testing, its importance, and especially fast point of care tests. I really think we are dropping the ball quite a bit re testing now, and the new rules attempt to compensate for an overwhelmed system.
https://www.caltech.edu/about/news/tip-iceberg-virologist-david-ho-bs-74-speaks-about-covid-19?fbclid=IwAR07PhPoHx816jovbJ55FYErUbLc7j3i9wktCtlORmq9eZQ9CUoSoUBNsfs

"How long before the U.S. sees test availability similar to what South Korea has implemented?
The PCR testing, which is the one that's approved, is now ramping up very, very rapidly in state and local labs as well as in academic medical centers and in the commercial sector. Their production will grow tremendously. Roche has a machine that will run 1,000 samples at a time. If you go to a commercial lab, they take a swab, they package it, they quite often send it to another facility somewhere else. The turnaround time is typically 72 hours. In that period, it's very, very hard to manage patients and their contacts. It's a nightmare for the healthcare worker.

We need point-of-care tests. Those kinds of tests are available for HIV and for many other diseases; you use a finger stick, drop the blood on a small device, and have a readout in 15 minutes. These tests measure antibody response to the virus and are extremely useful. Yet we don't have a single test licensed in the U.S. In China, in South Korea, and in Europe, those tests are used. The manufacturer for this rapid test is producing a million a day. It's there. But in the name of protecting the public, the FDA has moved very, very slowly. That delay, in my view, has caused more harm than good.

Can you elaborate on point-of-care testing?
It's almost like a home pregnancy test or home HIV test. These tests have been around for a long time. The test that I'm specifically referring to, coming out of China, South Korea, and approved in Europe, is an antibody test. You put a drop of blood on a plastic slide, add another drop of the buffer that comes with the test, and you let it sit for 15 minutes. Then, you look at the bands. You're negative if you have just one band, or you're positive if you have more than one band. The test also tells you type of antibody. There's a type of antibody called IgG [immunoglobulin G] and another type called IgM [immunoglobulin M]. Typically, when a person is infected, the IgM response is earlier and the IgG response is later. The two bands indicate the course of the infection.

This kind of test is available all over the world for HIV. The technology is there, the tests are there. But they're not FDA approved. While I think they are fairly close to being approved, we have let several weeks go by and to me that's tragic."