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Coronavirus: US infections likely to surge as mobile testing gets underway, officials say
- Following in the footsteps of South Korea, ‘drive-through’ coronavirus diagnostic testing will be rolled out across the US in the coming days
- President Donald Trump has told Americans who have been panic-buying supplies at grocery stores to ‘relax’ and ‘take it easy’
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United States health officials on Sunday said they expected the tally of confirmed coronavirus infections to spike in the coming days as the government rolls out a sweeping plan for “drive-through” diagnostic testing across the country.
Parking lots in Walmart and Walgreen stores around the country are being viewed as potential sites for these tests, which are akin to the highly vaunted mobile testing procedure used by South Korea to rapidly detect, isolate and treat patients.
Deborah Birx, the deputy to Vice-President Mike Pence in the White House Covid-19 task force, said the sharp spike would mirror a similar infections surge in China when Beijing ramped up testing at the height of the outbreak there.
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Speaking at a press conference in Washington with Pence and others in the task force, Birx said priority for the tests would be given to the elderly, those with compromised immunity, first responders and frontline medical workers.
Anthony Fauci, the country’s leading infectious diseases specialist, said the roll-out meant the US was “entering into a new phase in the testing space available”.
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