* Associated Press…

Even as private labs have been cleared by government regulators to process tens of thousands of additional tests in the last two weeks, experts warn that the nation is still falling well short of enough testing capacity to keep ahead of the highly contagious virus. And it can often take a week just to get results back.

Trump last week rated his administration’s response to the crisis as a perfect 10. However, Dr. Anthony Fauci, the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, said the CDC’s system wasn’t designed to test for and track a widespread outbreak, which he characterized as “a failing.”

In interviews with the AP, two federal health officials with direct knowledge of the situation said CDC experts don’t know why many of the agency’s test kits failed to reliably detect the virus. The officials spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly about what went wrong.

J. Stephen Morrison, a health policy expert at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington, called the testing issues a “debacle,” contributing to what he described as a confused and delayed federal response to the crisis.

It took six days to get test results back for US Sen. Rand Paul. And he may have passed the virus to who knows how many people during that time period.

* And it was even longer for this Illinoisan. From the Park Ridge-Niles School District…

District 64 has received notice from a parent at Roosevelt Elementary School that they tested positively for COVID-19 by health care providers on Saturday, March 21. This parent was reported to have demonstrated symptoms in early March, was tested on March 11, and just received the results this past Saturday. This parent has been hospitalized and is receiving care.

That’s ten days.

* Why testing plays such an important role…

At the peak, medical workers identified 909 new cases in a single day, Feb. 29, and the country of 50 million people appeared on the verge of being overwhelmed. But less than a week later, the number of new cases halved. Within four days, it halved again — and again the next day.

On Sunday, South Korea reported only 64 new cases, the fewest in nearly a month, even as infections in other countries continue to soar by the thousands daily, devastating health care systems and economies. Italy records several hundred deaths daily; South Korea has not had more than eight in a day. […]

South Korea is one of only two countries with large outbreaks, alongside China, to flatten the curve of new infections. And it has done so without China’s draconian restrictions on speech and movement, or economically damaging lockdowns like those in Europe and the United States.

As global deaths from the virus surge past 15,000, officials and experts worldwide are scrutinizing South Korea for lessons. And those lessons, while hardly easy, appear relatively straightforward and affordable: swift action, widespread testing and contact tracing, and critical support from citizens.

* As of today, Illinois has tested 9,868 people. And as of today, only two types of people can be tested by IDPH labs…

Residential congregate living with clusters (2 or more) of possible* or confirmed COVID-19 cases in a vulnerable population

Persons (may include residents or staff) who are part of a cluster of 2 or more possible or confirmed cases in a residential congregate setting that serves more vulnerable populations such as an assisted living facility, group home, homeless shelter, or correctional settings.

OR

Hospitalized patients with unexplained pneumonia

Be sure to expeditiously test patients from a residential congregate setting that serves vulnerable populations such as an assisted living facility, group home, homeless shelter, or correctional settings.

*Possible COVID-19 case: A possible case of COVID-19 is defined as a person with COVID-19-like illness for whom testing was not performed.

COVID-19-like Illness is described as new onset of subjective or measured (≥100.4°F or 38.0°C) fever OR cough OR shortness of breath OR sore throat that cannot be attributed to an underlying or previously recognized condition.

Patients who do not meet any of the above criteria for COVID-19 testing by IDPH laboratories should be managed as clinically indicated and providers may determine to proceed with testing at a commercial or hospital laboratory.

That is, if they can find any tests from those labs.