Only 5,000 Americans Have Been Tested For The Coronavirus So Far

Despite vows to drastically expand coronavirus testing, federal and state public health authorities have tested only 4,987 people for the coronavirus as of Tuesday morning, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and numbers provided by all 50 states.

That count includes people tested by the federal government and by state laboratories. Because those laboratories may not always report people who tested negative for the coronavirus, the true number of people tested is probably somewhat higher.

That number stands in stark contrast to the promises made by leading members of the Trump administration’s coronavirus task force, who have variously asserted that 75,000 people would be tested by last week’s end and that laboratories across the United States would have the capacity to conduct 1.5 million tests by the beginning of this week.

Neither claim appears to yet be close to realized, angering some Washington lawmakers. “We are in a crisis, and there are questions about our preparedness and ongoing response efforts,” Rep. Rosa DeLauro, D-Conn., said on Tuesday morning. “I’m very concerned — and, I think, we all are — about our nation’s capabilities for coronavirus. Other countries have been testing thousands of people for weeks, but the U.S. is woefully behind the curve.”

Planned Parenthood drops lawsuit challenging Trump administration’s Medicaid cuts

San Francisco uncovers nine secret drug and gambling dens disguised as convenience stores

Dozens of House Republicans Demand Mitch McConnell ‘Stop Stalling the SAVE Act’

Jeffries says GOP ‘done eff’d up in Texas,’ vows they won’t win five seats: ‘They can’t ignore it’

Chuck Schumer Lambasted After Comparing the SAVE Act to Jim Crow

Donations surge for fallen NY officer and new mom following tragic death at hands of DWI suspect

Clintons agree to testify after House threatens contempt in Jeffrey Epstein probe

LAPD Chief Refuses to Enforce Gavin Newsom’s Crackdown on ICE Agents: ‘It Doesn’t Make Any Sense’

House GOP majority shrinks to just one vote as Johnson swears in new House Democrat

Trump and India PM Modi Reach Historic Trade Agreement, Includes Ending Importation of Russian Oil

Grammys blasted as ‘anti-China political tool’ after Dalai Lama wins audiobook award

House Democrat Appears Hundreds of Times in New Epstein Documents

Trump raises ‘nationalized voting’ idea in Bongino’s return podcast debut

FLASHBACK VIDEO: The Barack Obama Video That Anti-ICE Dems Want Buried Forever and That Trump Should Run on TV 24/7

Matt Mahan sets himself apart from crowded California field by criticizing Newsom

The nation’s ability to test for the coronavirus was hampered early on because a test created by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention was found to have a contaminated reagent, meaning that one of its three markers — the one that would indicate a person was not infected — was not operational.

The CDC eventually corrected that error but also had to grapple with the fact that by keeping the coronavirus tests within its own purview, it was severely limiting the numbers who could be tested. It has since allowed private and university laboratories to conduct testing, while also vowing to stock public health labs with sufficient quantities of the coronavirus test.

Still, the lag is evident, robbing epidemiologists of precious days as they seek to contain the spread of the disease.

Private laboratories are expected to intensify their own testing efforts, but as of Monday morning, Mark S. Birenbaum, who heads the National Independent Laboratory Association, said he was uncertain of how many of his members had begun to test for the coronavirus.

“Many have not,” he wrote in a text message.

CDC spokesman Richard Quartarone said that as of Monday evening, the Atlanta-based public health agency had tested 1,707 people. On March 3, that number had been 1,200 people, which means the CDC has tested 507 people in the last week, or about 72 per day.