Have You Tried to Get Tested for COVID-19? Do You Want a Test? Were You Able to Get a Test?

A snapshot of COVID-19 testing in the U.S.

• Los Angeles is offering COVID-19 tests to all residents.
• New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D) on Saturday announced the opening of 22 new sites to provide Big Apple residents with coronavirus tests.
• In Kirkland, Washington - which experienced one of the largest clusters of COVID-19 infections - "there just simply aren’t enough tests to go around," according to Time.
• According to the COVID Tracking Project, the U.S. is conducting around 250,000 tests per day. But this is still far below any of the proposed benchmarks.
• Anthony Fauci, the top U.S. infectious disease expert, has recommended the U.S. perform 500,000 tests per day if it wants to safely relax social-distancing and stay-at-home restrictions. Harvard's Global Health Institute proposes that the U.S. should be doing more than 900,000 tests per day as a country. 
• In late April, Fauci said that everyone who needs a test, “according to the way we’re approaching the identification, isolation, contact tracing, keeping the country safe and healthy,” should be able to get one by the end of May or the beginning of June.

• Last Wednesday, President Donald Trump declared "[I]n a way, by doing all of this testing, we make ourselves look bad" because it reveals the number of infected Americans. Two days later, he took issue with "the whole concept" of virus testing.

How much testing does your state need to contain its outbreak? Check it here.

• Testing in the U.S. lags far behind other countries—due to technical difficulties, policy issues, and political pressure.
• On Sunday, the U.S. death toll from the coronavirus crossed 80,000.

Have you tried to get tested?

Have you tried to get tested for COVID-19? Do you want a test? Were you able to get a test? Is testing a state or federal issue? Take action above and tell your reps, then share your thoughts below.

—Josh Herman

(Photo Credit: U.S. Air Force photo/Ilka Cole)