Why It Takes so Long to Get Coronavirus Test Results - The Daily Dive

As COVID-19 testing capabilities ramp up and companies are coming up with new tests, why does it still take so long to get results? First, it is a multi-step process… once a sample is taken, it needs to travel to a lab, then it needs to be processed. And different circumstances in processing will lead to different turnaround times.  Julie Appleby, senior correspondent at Kaiser Health News, joins us for the steps involved in testing and new ones on the way.

Next, we hear a lot about confirmed cases of coronavirus. The U.S. has the most confirmed cases in the world right now, but unfortunately, that metric does little for us in the way of tracking how fast it is spreading due to uneven testing. Instead, some suggest we track the rate of hospitalizations and other factors. Faye Flam, columnist at Bloomberg News, joins us for why we still need a lot more data to find out true rates of infection and spread.

Finally, coronavirus is forcing pregnant women to make tough choices. There are many hospitals with such tight restrictions that in some cases a woman’s partner might not even be allowed into the delivery room. Women are having to resort to FaceTime to have their partners present, and it could be falling to nurses to provide supportive care and camerawork. Laura Kusisto, reporter at the WSJ, joins us for more.

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