COVID-19: Is a new test the answer we've been waiting for?
Key Takeaways
We try not to use the T word too much here at PhysicianSense. We’re not a political blog, but in looking back to look ahead this week, it’s impossible to ignore the overarching theme of the intersection of politics and medicine during the COVID-19 response.
Like many careers, medicine requires physicians to wear two hats: personal and professional. Professional life for doctors requires a certain amount of objectivity. But in private life, we all have our opinions and biases. That doesn’t mean we can’t put on our professional hats and strive for objectivity, which is what we’re attempting to do here.
With that caveat out of the way, we turn to analyzing the past week’s medical news and looking ahead to this week. What arguably should be a clinical response is becoming more politicized. But more on that in a bit. Here’s what happened this weekend.
What you missed from the weekend
Dr. Deborah Birx said on NBC’s Meet the Press that social distancing likely will have to continue through the summer. Birx also said that U.S. COVID-19 testing requires “a huge technology breakthrough” that detects antigen rather than viral particles.
The Washington Post reports that a non-negligible number of stroke patients in their 30s and 40s are testing positive for COVID-19, complicating the understanding of how the virus affects the body. Preliminary analysis shows that these young patients are experiencing particularly deadly large-vessel occlusions.
Reports are circulating of HHS Secretary Alex Azar’s possible dismissal.
China says that all Wuhan COVID-19 patients have been discharged. This, however, has to be taken with a grain of salt. Case number accuracy has been in question since the beginning of the outbreak in China.
The CDC has added 6 new COVID-19 symptoms. The list now includes:
Fever
Cough
Shortness of breath or difficulty breathing
Chills
Repeated shaking with chills
Muscle pain
Headache
Sore throat
New loss of taste or smell
Quarantine protests are going strong. Wisconsin saw one this weekend that attracted thousands.
A heat wave drew Californians to beaches this weekend. Not all beaches were open, but some counties eased social distancing restrictions.
While food banks struggle to keep up with demand, Politico reports that the USDA has let millions of pounds of food rot. This is eerily similar to what happened during the Great Depression.
Ramadan looks very different for Muslims this year, with mosques closed and social gatherings restricted.
Looking ahead
Here’s what we’re keeping an eye on this week:
Testing and reopening efforts
Ready or not, America is opening for business. Oklahoma, Georgia, and Colorado are forging ahead. But as you might imagine, it’s not like flipping a switch. Think of all the donning, doffing, and scrubbing you need to do at work these days. Imagine, for a moment, that you run a barbershop in Georgia. How are you going to screen customers upon entry, adequately protect yourself on the job, and make sure that you don’t bring contagions home with you? It’s a complex problem -- one that, arguably, most Americans don’t have sufficient expertise to solve.
Lifting lockdowns safely means we need widely available testing. And widespread, reliable testing is still very much a moving target. As Dr. Deborah Birx said, what we really need is a test that does antigen detection, and does it quickly. That amounts to a technological breakthrough, she said.
Many also see a test that detects antibodies as the catalyst for restarting the economy. But, of the myriad serological immunity tests available to consumers, only 3 have been granted FDA emergency use authorization. The rest are unreliable and therefore pretty much worthless.
Furthermore, as Americans seek out these tests, they do so without confirmation that having antibodies connotes COVID-19 immunity. The jury to determine that isn’t out. It hasn’t even been convened. As a result, the WHO has raised red flagsover so-called immunity passport programs. As the American economy reopens, we’re essentially wandering into the dark without a flashlight here.
The Takeaway: We need to closely monitor the rollout of serological testing, the more widespread disbursement of PCR tests, and the rollout of so-called rapid PCR tests.