Tests: More coronavirus tests will be available next month, Fauci says, as U.S. struggles with shortage

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Mon, 2021-12-27 11:53 — mike kraft

More coronavirus tests will be available next month, Fauci says, as U.S. struggles with shortage As the omicron variant fuels a surge, “we’ve obviously got to do better” on testing availability, infectious-disease expert Anthony S. Fauci said. Bryan Pietsch Washington Post

The United States will have an ample supply of coronavirus tests next month, according to Anthony S. Fauci, the nation’s top infectious-disease expert and chief medical adviser to President Biden, as people across the nation seeking them face long lines and empty shelves.

Testing will be “very important” as the country deals with a surge of cases from the omicron variant, Fauci said Sunday on ABC’s “This Week.” But the nation is experiencing a shortage of tests as cases increase and people travel for the holidays. ...

People who are able to find at-home rapid tests in stores may face a limit on how many they can purchase — reminiscent of shortages of items like toilet paper earlier in the pandemic. Walgreens stores have placed a four-item limit on tests.

Some medical centers are asking people who test positive with at-home tests not to come to an emergency room unless they are experiencing severe symptoms, citing a rush of asymptomatic people seeking to confirm their at-home results with laboratory tests.

At-home coronavirus tests and omicron: What you need to know

People who test positive with at-home antigen test kits should contact a doctor to report the result and consider taking a lab-based PCR test to verify it, experts advise. In general, antigen tests are less sensitive than molecular tests and tend to work better for symptomatic people.

To increase confidence in a negative test, experts recommend testing frequently at regular intervals, known as “serial testing.” ...

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