8 ms·

New York City is rationing testing as a measure of lowering healthcare worker exposure and reducing use of limited personal protective equipment supplies. "If

New York City is rationing testing as a measure of lowering healthcare worker exposure and reducing use of limited personal protective equipment supplies. "If you think you have COVID-19 and your illness is mild, you do not need to see your health care provider and you will not be tested. Getting tested will not change what your provider will tell you to do to get better. They will tell you to stay home so you do not get others sick. Unless you are hospitalized and a diagnosis will impact your care, you will not be tested. Limiting testing protects health care workers and saves essential medical supplies, such as masks and gloves, that are in short supply." https://www1.nyc.gov/site/doh/health/health-topics/coronavirus.page https://www1.nyc.gov/site/doh/health/health-topics/coronavir...

sjg007 7y ago
Are these official state tests or does that include commercial tests?
- souterrain 7y ago
  I believe the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene has regulatory authority over healthcare providers within the City of New York. Their 2020 Advisory #8 COVID-19 Update for New York City [1] directed towards healthcare providers states in the summary that "Outpatient testing must not be encouraged, promoted or advertised." Additionally, "To preserve PPE for HCW providing medically necessary care for hospitalized patients, the NYC Health Department is directing healthcare facilities to IMMEDIATELY STOP TESTING NON-HOSPITALIZED PATIENTS FOR COVID-19 unless test results will impact the clinical management of the patient. In addition, do not test asymptomatic people, including HCWs or first responders. COVID-19 testing is only indicated for HOSPITALIZED PATIENTS." [1] https://www1.nyc.gov/assets/doh/downloads/pdf/han/advisory/2020/covid-19-03202020.pdf https://www1.nyc.gov/assets/doh/downloads/pdf/han/advisory/2...
  - sjg007 7y ago
    Ok so that tells you how f* we are.
    - souterrain 7y ago
      On the contrary, that tells us the NYC public health regulator is making logical choices in the face of systemic limitations.
      - sjg007 7y ago
        F'd meaning they tested 10k people. The full impact hasn't peaked.
epistasis 7y ago
It is absolutely insane that we are so limited in this capacity, months after we knew we would need it. It is so limited and dire that we are barely able to provide for our own healthcare workers. I really hope that after this is over, we have the political strength to diagnose the problems and deal with them. However I fear that the current regime will prevent any such correction because of fear that they could blamed, and the extreme dictator-like narcissism that prevents any corrections because it would mean admitting imperfection.
- ghufran_syed 7y ago
  So how long should it take to be able to create a reliable, sensitive and specific test , and then produce millions of such tests, for a virus which didn't exist in humans until 3-4 months ago?
  - epistasis 7y ago
    A week? Two weeks tops? Once we have the viral genome sequence, which we've had for a looooong time, it's really easy to make a test. Testing a new virus is not the difficulty! We've had all the info we needed for months, and the bottlenecks are not anything specific to SARS-COV-2. IDT, TWIST, and others can produce the specifics for this virus in no time. What we are seeing is a massive logistical and organizational failure, driven right from the top of all of the organizations.
  - jclulow 7y ago
    I dunno, how long did it take in South Korea?
    - calmworm 7y ago
      Exactly. It’s already done. Why there isn’t more or even any public outcry regarding the US/FDA refusing to use their testing kits/system is beyond me.
      - drak0n1c 7y ago
LaFolle 7y ago
Thanks souterrain for the info. On a side note, out of curiosity, would you happen to know how much the test costs in US?
- souterrain 7y ago
  Not sure, but Medicare (the U.S. federal public healthcare system which covers older patients and some others) will reimburse approximately $35 - $50 per test. https://www.cms.gov/files/document/mac-covid-19-test-pricing.pdf https://www.cms.gov/files/document/mac-covid-19-test-pricing...
Shinobi881 7y ago
I think the strategy has shifted in terms of just trying to get people tested. It's a pandemic. Now, we're just trying to figure out how make sure the health system can serve those who really need it. https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2020-03-20/coronavirus-county-doctors-containment-testing https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2020-03-20/coronavi...
deleted 7y ago
[deleted]

sjg007 7y ago

Are these official state tests or does that include commercial tests?

souterrain 7y ago
I believe the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene has regulatory authority over healthcare providers within the City of New York. Their 2020 Advisory #8 COVID-19 Update for New York City [1] directed towards healthcare providers states in the summary that "Outpatient testing must not be encouraged, promoted or advertised." Additionally, "To preserve PPE for HCW providing medically necessary care for hospitalized patients, the NYC Health Department is directing healthcare facilities to IMMEDIATELY STOP TESTING NON-HOSPITALIZED PATIENTS FOR COVID-19 unless test results will impact the clinical management of the patient. In addition, do not test asymptomatic people, including HCWs or first responders. COVID-19 testing is only indicated for HOSPITALIZED PATIENTS." [1] https://www1.nyc.gov/assets/doh/downloads/pdf/han/advisory/2020/covid-19-03202020.pdf https://www1.nyc.gov/assets/doh/downloads/pdf/han/advisory/2...
- sjg007 7y ago
  Ok so that tells you how f* we are.
  - souterrain 7y ago
    On the contrary, that tells us the NYC public health regulator is making logical choices in the face of systemic limitations.
    - sjg007 7y ago
      F'd meaning they tested 10k people. The full impact hasn't peaked.

epistasis 7y ago

It is absolutely insane that we are so limited in this capacity, months after we knew we would need it. It is so limited and dire that we are barely able to provide for our own healthcare workers. I really hope that after this is over, we have the political strength to diagnose the problems and deal with them. However I fear that the current regime will prevent any such correction because of fear that they could blamed, and the extreme dictator-like narcissism that prevents any corrections because it would mean admitting imperfection.

ghufran_syed 7y ago
So how long should it take to be able to create a reliable, sensitive and specific test , and then produce millions of such tests, for a virus which didn't exist in humans until 3-4 months ago?
- epistasis 7y ago
  A week? Two weeks tops? Once we have the viral genome sequence, which we've had for a looooong time, it's really easy to make a test. Testing a new virus is not the difficulty! We've had all the info we needed for months, and the bottlenecks are not anything specific to SARS-COV-2. IDT, TWIST, and others can produce the specifics for this virus in no time. What we are seeing is a massive logistical and organizational failure, driven right from the top of all of the organizations.
- jclulow 7y ago
  I dunno, how long did it take in South Korea?
  - calmworm 7y ago
    Exactly. It’s already done. Why there isn’t more or even any public outcry regarding the US/FDA refusing to use their testing kits/system is beyond me.
    - drak0n1c 7y ago

LaFolle 7y ago

Thanks souterrain for the info. On a side note, out of curiosity, would you happen to know how much the test costs in US?

souterrain 7y ago
Not sure, but Medicare (the U.S. federal public healthcare system which covers older patients and some others) will reimburse approximately $35 - $50 per test. https://www.cms.gov/files/document/mac-covid-19-test-pricing.pdf https://www.cms.gov/files/document/mac-covid-19-test-pricing...

Shinobi881 7y ago

I think the strategy has shifted in terms of just trying to get people tested. It's a pandemic. Now, we're just trying to figure out how make sure the health system can serve those who really need it. https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2020-03-20/coronavirus-county-doctors-containment-testing https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2020-03-20/coronavi...

deleted 7y ago

[deleted]