Here’s what they’re doing in South Korea:
From inside his car, a driver is checked for any fever or breathing difficulties by medical staff in protective clothing and goggles who lean in through the window at a new drive-thru coronavirus clinic in South Korea.
He drove off after the brief test showed he was clear.
Others queuing in their vehicles in the city of Goyang were instructed to stop briefly to submit a sample of secretions for closer examination, with the entire procedure taking less than 10 minutes.
“I initially went to a community health center and had to wait more than one hour, so this is easier and faster,” the first driver told local broadcaster YTN.
The first confirmed case of the outbreak of coronavirus disease in South Korea was announced on January 20. By March 2, South Korea has 4,335 cases, 26 deaths, with almost 100,000 people having been tested.
We’ve tested about 500 people. And we already have 6 deaths.
Here’s a story from January 28th about China’s slow testing response:
Yang Zhongyi was still waiting on Monday for a coronavirus test in the Chinese city of Wuhan two weeks after she started to show signs of a fever, even though doctors privately told her family that she almost certainly has been infected, her son, Zhang Changchun, told Reuters.
Yang, 53, is just one of many Wuhan inhabitants finding it difficult to get tested or receive treatment for the new form of coronavirus, which authorities say has infected 4,515 people and killed at least 106 in China, a situation that may be contributing to the spread of the disease.
Yang has been unable to gain full-time admission to a hospital, her son said. She has been put on drips in unquarantined areas at four separate hospitals in the city to treat her deteriorating lungs, he said, while he is doing what he can to get her tested or admitted full-time.
“My brother and I have been queuing at the hospital every day. We go at 6 and 7 in the morning, and queue for the whole day, but we don’t get any new answers,” Zhang told Reuters. “Every time the responses are the same: ‘There’s no bed, wait for the government to give a notice, and follow the news to see what’s going on.’ The doctors are all very frustrated too.”
Officially known as 2019-nCoV, the new form of coronavirus was first identified as the cause of death of a 61-year-old man in Wuhan on Jan. 10, when China shared gene information on the virus with other countries. Some, such as Japan and Thailand, started testing travelers from China for the virus within three days.
Yeah, that was a problem. The US has had a lot of lead time to get prepared. Apparently, we didn’t.
It’s doubtful that our system will become that overwhelmed. But it’s ridiculous that we didn’t at least have the testing ready to go.
It’s also ridiculous that we have a president who says things like this:
He is a disgrace.
Update: