Health officials battling the coronavirus are making the difficult decision to limit testing in an effort to conserve critical resources, even as more test kits become available.
The balancing act means that despite an increase in drive-thru testing sites and point-of-care tests that deliver results in minutes, some of the hardest-hit areas are still restricting evaluations to health workers and the most vulnerable patients.
Instead of broad, community-wide testing, cities in California and New York are focused on making sure only the sickest people and health workers get tested. Doing so also slows the use of personal protective equipment (PPE) like masks, gowns and gloves. Continue reading.