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.”

Bombshell Video Catches Reported Insiders Admitting Somalis Are Paying For, Harvesting Omar Votes

Obama Presidential Hits Jaw-Dropping Total Cost of Over $1 Billion, Tripling Past Estimates

Man shot and killed inside New York City subway station in Midtown Manhattan: NYPD

California diners are cutting back as costs soar — but restaurant owner reveals one trend that’s booming

Watch: Stunt Chopper at Navy SEAL Fundraiser Thrills Guests With Small Explosions and Red, White and Blue Smoke Show

Hero Dad Who Stopped Oregon School Shooting Doesn’t Want an Award, Tragically Feels Guilt Over Not Saving More

‘Moderate’ AG’s office turned to groups that spent years suing prisons for recruiting help: emails reveal

A Symbolic Detail Hidden in Background of Netflix’s New ‘Narnia’ Trailer Has Fans Fearing the Worst

Alito Shuts Down Retirement Talks as Midterms Threaten GOP Path to Confirm Successor

Pope Leo XIV leaves hospital and returns to Vatican after lung cancer surgery

From handyman to House history: HVAC mogul Joe Strada pushes trade schools, business mindset in Florida race

They’ll Never Learn: As Crime Sprees Plague Seattle, It’s Socialist Mayor Introduces Soft-on-Crime ‘Connection Court’

Ilhan Omar should be jailed, deported if citizenship fraud proven, Top House Republican says

They May Come to Your State Too: Flood of West Nile Fever Cases Hits LA Thanks to Mosquito Swarms

When purity politics runs its course: Even the most strident DSA politicians must learn to compromise

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.