A few weeks ago, Citigroup began making Covid-19 test kits available to many of its employees in Chicago and New York at home. Each kit contains a nasal swab, paper strip, and liquid solution, and people get a result in minutes. “It looks a bit like a pregnancy test,” Dr. Lori Zimmerman, Citigroup Medical Director.
The company distributes enough tests for employees to take three times a week, usually on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday mornings. Citigroup will soon expand the program to a further 6,000 employees across the country. The goal, Zimmerman said, is to help people know they have Covid before they can infect colleagues or customers.
This is the kind of ambitious testing program that many medical experts believe should be available across the country. Why? As more Americans receive vaccination shots, the country is still months away from vaccination. In the meantime, extensive testing can help life return to normal – without triggering deadly new Covid outbreaks.
Unfortunately, the US is going in the opposite direction when it comes to testing. The number of daily tests has decreased by 35 percent since mid-January:
“We have to do more,” said Jennifer Nuzzo, an epidemiologist at Johns Hopkins University. “This pandemic is not over yet. We are still at dangerously high levels. “
“It pays off”
Tests have declined in part because the health system has focused instead on giving vaccine shots. And vaccinations are indeed more important than Covid tests. But the country shouldn’t have to choose between the two, experts say. If the US can speed up both vaccinations and testing, the gains in terms of lives saved and schools and businesses reopening would be huge.
“It’s paying off,” said Dr. Michael Mina, a Harvard University epidemiologist who has spoken out in favor of more testing. “Tests are one of the easiest and least stressful things we can do.”
For Monica Jurado, a Citi banker on the south side of Chicago, testing has become an easy part of her morning ritual. After a test, she gets ready for work – and 20 minutes later she can see the test result. “It gives me tremendous security to know that I can get to work safely, and so do my employees,” said Jurado.
Several countries around the world, including Australia and South Korea, have already carried out mass tests to stop Covid cases, as Umair Irfan from Vox notes. Many colleges in the United States as well as professional sports leagues have also relied on testing to continue their operations. And Biden administration officials say they are committed to making testing more available, even to people who are not showing symptoms.
“Testing is an important pillar of the president’s strategy,” White House testing coordinator Carole Johnson told me yesterday. “We think it’s really important.”
What does the US need to do more testing?
Three steps for further testing
Money. The recently passed anti-virus law provides $ 50 billion for advanced testing, including $ 10 billion for schools. That will help, say experts, although it’s not yet clear how much.
The tests Citigroup runs cost about $ 5 each when purchased in bulk. A nationwide program of universal mass testing for unvaccinated people would likely cost billions of dollars a week – which, in turn, pales in comparison to the cost of prolonged shutdowns. The country’s current test plan is much less aggressive.
Logistic help. With many hospitals and pharmacies focused on vaccinations, people need places to get tested. The Biden administration is working with state and local officials to open four regional coordination centers in the coming weeks.
Corporate America can also play a role. Large Canadian companies recently formed a consortium to give employees quick score testing, and the group’s organizers announced this week that they are planning to expand into the US
FDA approval. Citigroup was only able to distribute its tests – so-called rapid antigen tests – because it is doing so as part of an academic study. The Food & Drug Administration has not approved the tests used by Citigroup. The agency has approved two more at-home antigen tests, but they are not yet generally available.
One problem is that rapid antigen tests are a little less accurate – some people with Covid are absent – than the other main type of test known as a PCR test, which is not an option for mass testing at home. But that’s fine. Think of it this way: Citigroup recognizes a lot more Covid cases than most employers.
The final result
In President Biden’s first two months in office, his administration has made impressive strides in accelerating vaccinations. But he still faces two overwhelming Covid challenges to prevent thousands of unnecessary deaths.
First, he needs to keep speeding up vaccinations – to match the speed at which drug companies are firing shots. (The new goal that Biden announced yesterday – to get 200 million vaccinations in its first 100 days – is not ambitious enough to get there). Second, the administration needs to find a way to reverse the recent decline in testing.
A programming note: I’ll be on break next week and my colleagues will deliver The Morning to your inbox. I’ll be back Tuesday April 6th.
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Lived life: Jessica Walter’s acting career included roles on Broadway and an Emmy-winning twist on the 1970’s Amy Prentiss. But she is perhaps best known as the Martini-sweating matriarch of the Bluth family in Arrested Development. Walter died at the age of 80.
ART AND IDEAS
How do you complete Mozart?
It is hard to imagine a musician having a more intimidating task than completing an unfinished work by Mozart. This is what Timothy Jones, a Mozart expert who teaches at the Royal Academy of Music in London, did to complete fragments of violin sonata that the composer left behind.
Posthumous degrees are not uncommon in classical music. However, Jones’ recent endeavor brings a twist: he made several finished versions of each fragment, each highlighting different aspects of Mozart’s style.
He also benefited from recent research that helped more accurately date Mozart’s compositions. “If I fully understand the context for these fragments, I can ask detailed hypothetical questions about his compositional strategy,” Jones told The Times. “What has he been working on, listening to his compositional interests? That was key because his style was still developing very rapidly until his death in 1791. “
PLAY, WATCH, EAT
What to cook
The pangrams from yesterday’s Spelling Bee awakened, awakened and faded. Here is today’s puzzle – or you can play online.
Here’s today’s mini crossword and clue: Enlightened (five letters).
If you feel like playing more, all of our games can be found here.
Thank you for spending part of your morning with The Times. I’ll be gone next week. My co-workers will get to your inbox while I’m away. – David
PS Apoorva Mandavilli, a science reporter for The Times, has a master’s degree in biochemistry, speaks seven languages, and has a thing for Bridgerton. In an interview, she talks about the coverage of the pandemic.
