nasopharyngeal swab...)
>> That doesn't feel very good.
>> There are dozens of tests approved by the FDA that can
check for an active coronavirus infection by taking a sample from
the back of your nose or throat. All of these tests require one
key element. This. The swab. And for months now, the U.S. hasn't
had enough of that. It's one reason there are still complaints
about testing shortages nationwide. But first, it's
important to understand that a coronavirus test is not one
single kit or device.
>> There are several different steps and pieces of equipment all
sourced from different places.
>> The first step, the swabbing, usually happens at a hospital or
community health center or drive through testing site. The other
steps where the samples get analyzed usually happen in a lab.
And if one element is missing from that chain, that can prevent
testing from happening entirely. And that's what's been happening
across the country over the last few months. Supply shortages have
slowed this process way down. Starting with the most universal
thing required for this type of test, the swab. (Collecting the
>> So let's focus on the swab. (It is essential to use correct
technique when collecting...) These aren't like the ones you
probably have at home.
>> The ones used for coronavirus testing are called
nasalpharyngeal swabs, and they're considered medical
devices. They have to be long enough and flexible enough to get
all the way through your nose to the back of your throat. And the
material in the end can't be cotton because cotton contains
its own genetic material, which could interfere with the genetic
testing for the virus.
>> Back in February, health experts and governors started
warning of a swab shortage.
>> The problem is swabs. You know, I've spent half of my day
today trying to get a straight answer from the CDC and the
federal government and FEMA. When can we expect swabs?
>> The U.S. government does have an emergency stockpile of medical
supplies, but that stockpile doesn't include swabs. Plus,
before the pandemic. There were only two major manufacturers of
these swabs in the whole world. One was Puritan medical products
in Maine and the other was Copan Diagnostics in Italy. Since
mid-March, the U.S. government has gotten millions of swabs from
the Italian company, but that still didn't meet demand. A
federal contract to up production from the American company didn't
come till more than a month later.
>> This is what it's about.
>> On April 19th, President Trump said he would use the Defense
Production Act to make more swabs. That's a Cold War era law
that gives the president emergency control over domestic
industries. On April 29, the government said it had given a
seventy five million dollar contract to Puritan to make more
swabs. There's no clear consensus on how much coronavirus testing
we should actually be doing and how many swabs that would take.
But there is a shortage and it's being addressed on multiple
fronts. The largest maker of household cotton swabs, U.S.
cotton in Ohio, is converting a plant to make a synthetic
variety. The FDA has approved more types of swabs and some are
being produced on 3D printers and new types of tests are being
invented. The FDA recently approved a saliva test that
doesn't require a swab, but right now, the swab test is still the
most common way to identify an active infection. So swab
shortages and shortages of other supplies like the chemicals
needed in the next few stages of testing can slow down the whole
process. Widespread testing is key to reopening the country in a
safe way. But to get to that point, we're going to need more
swabs.