We know one thing for sure about the novel coronavirus _ we have no idea how many people are infected. With guidelines about reopening the economy being discussed, public health experts have said that testing should be doubled or tripled before any partial reopening happens, as only 1% of the U.S. population has been tested so far.
Insufficient testing forces delays in government responses and hinders our ability to contain the virus by stopping community spread. Although testing capacity is increasing, there still remains a lack of workforce and equipment.
The majority of academic biological research laboratories in America have the materials and ability to test for coronavirus. But academic laboratories like mine were shut down. As many scientists and graduate students stay at home these days, I can't help but wonder _ are we are doing enough?
South Korea's government allowed laboratories to start designing their own test before any authorization was given and shared information on testing methods so that they would be able to develop their in-house testing faster. To ensure their reliability, the labs performed the assay in patients previously probed by the government and the results were cross-checked. Because of these regulations, recent data from mid-March showed that South Korea tested more than 5,000 people per million, successfully reducing the number of positive cases in the country. In comparison, the U.S. was testing around 125 individuals per million people. Some regulations for labs have since become less restrictive, but more could be done.
Initially, in the U.S. testing was only allowed in state public health laboratories, many of which were understaffed and lacked the equipment needed for effective testing. Academic labs were prohibited from testing, even though they typically have the skills, equipment and supplies needed to increase the country's capacity to test people. This decision already had implications for identifying early outbreaks in the U.S.
In Seattle, the laboratory of Dr. Helen Chu defied federal regulations and started performing coronavirus testing. To their surprise, a teenager that did not fit into the narrow CDC criteria tested positive. This led to the closure of his school and likely prevented infection in hundreds of other children. Testing from Dr. Chu's lab exposed the severity and extent of the Seattle outbreak, which was spreading undetected for weeks. Following their report to state health officials, Dr. Chu was told to stop testing.
Since then, the regulations around which labs are allowed to perform the testing have relaxed _ the U.S. is relying on commercial and private labs to speed up the process. Recently, many academic institutions have been shutting down laboratories, except for those studying coronaviruses. Our country has many academic scientists with the ability to run these tests just as efficiently as commercial laboratories. Unfortunately, one thing is stopping us from that: bureaucracy.
Regulations are needed to keep self-checking science. But, during a global public health emergency, we need clear leadership, collaboration and, most importantly, we need action. Laboratories approved for testing should pass safety and quality controls. However, they should not be required to adhere to the extensive regulations of Standard Operating Procedures. The required SOP certifications can take weeks or months to obtain, posing a real threat to improvements in testing capabilities.
We are experiencing a global health crisis far from "standard." Cross-validation of test results, just like other countries have done, should be enough to approve tests generated by academic labs. Additionally, academic institutions with labs approved for coronavirus testing should increase the working personnel by allowing qualified graduate students and scientists to join such labs. Hospitals and testing facilities also should rely on academic labs to perform such tests at a faster turnaround, free from many administrative and regulatory hurdles.
Graduate school taught me how to collaborate, share resources and build a sense of community. Many scientists and graduate students, like myself, are eager to help in this crisis. Currently, it takes an average of four days to get the results of the coronavirus test in the U.S. The time to scale up testing is now, and we need to do anything in our power to get there. The longer we wait the more cases go undetected, and the more we risk pushing our health care system to its limit.
We must utilize our resources to the greatest extent possible. We are trained, we are at the bench almost every day. Many of us would still be there helping, only if we could.
