Why Trump’s testing strategy failed him
Testing is important, but it's not enough to keep the
virus in check.
By SARAH
OWERMOHLE
10/03/2020
08:11 PM EDT
https://www.politico.com/news/2020/10/03/trump-testing-strategy-425896
President
Donald Trump’s Covid-19 diagnosis exposed the folly of the White House’s
dependence on coronavirus testing to protect against the deadly pathogen and
shake off remaining restrictions on American life.
News of
Trump’s infection comes weeks before the election and amid constant calls from
the White House to broadly reopen the economy, send children back to school and
essentially return to normal. Central to this vision was a deployment of rapid
coronavirus tests, with little emphasis on other public health measures that
experts long identified as critical to keeping the virus in check.
But the
tests, which were supposed to deliver results in 15 minutes, couldn’t protect
the most fortified compound in the country at perhaps the most critical moment
in Trump’s presidency, leaving him and a growing share of his inner circle
stricken and the government in chaos.
“They had
this false belief that testing would suffice — and it was clearly just wrong,”
said New York University bioethicist Arthur Caplan.
Just this
Monday, Trump in a Rose Garden announcement touted his administration’s plans
to distribute 100 million rapid coronavirus tests to states by the end of the
year, claiming they would help schools and economies open “immediately and as
fast as they can” as he took a swipe at state restrictions.
"Lockdowns
can be very harmful, and we have too many states that are locked down right
now," Trump said at the time. "The governors are — nobody knows what
the governors are doing, actually."
Trump has
often bragged about the scope of the country’s testing regime. More than
900,000 coronavirus tests are now administered nationwide each day, which is
more than this summer but still short of where experts say the country needs to
safely reopen. Daily new cases are hovering around 40,000, and a rapidly
approaching flu season could vastly complicate the health crisis in the months
ahead, infectious disease experts have warned.
The
president has also sent mixed signals on testing, at times blaming them,
inaccurately, for an alarming spike in cases. He infamously told a rally in
Tulsa, Okla., this summer that he ordered his administration to slow down
testing, although health officials later said they never received those
instructions.
Testing
only provides a snapshot of a person’s infection status, and it may not even
detect cases in which patients aren’t showing symptoms. That’s why public
health experts preach social distancing, mask wearing, hand washing and
disinfecting as effective tools to curb the virus spread.
“There are
a few problems with relying on testing as an exclusive strategy,” said Holly
Fernandez-Lynch, a medical ethics professor at the Perelman School of Medicine
at the University of Pennsylvania. There is a gap between testing and receiving
results, leaving a window to infect others if a person does not isolate. It’s
also possible for an infected person to not have enough viral material to
trigger a positive result while still having the ability to spread the disease
to others.
“These
delays are why people are encouraged to quarantine if they think they may have
been exposed, rather than waiting for confirmation of infection,”
Fernandez-Lynch said. “It’s also why social distancing and mask wearing are so
important.”
On these
measures, Trump’s record is spotty. Trump himself has rarely worn a mask, often
questioned their utility and mocked his opponent, Democratic presidential
nominee Joe Biden, for his regular mask wearing.
Trump has
also flouted social distancing guidelines in campaign rallies, a jam-packed
Rose Garden address to the Republican National Convention this summer, and most
recently, last Saturday’s announcement of his nominee to the Supreme Court, Amy
Coney Barrett, which is seen as a potential source for an outbreak among
Republican officials. Masks have been scarce at these events, and White House aides
aren’t required to wear face coverings.
President
Trump’s physician painted a rosy portrait on camera, while the White House
indicated the president’s vitals had been “very concerning over the last 24
hours.”
Trump and
his aides have defended these events by pointing out people in close proximity
to Trump are tested. But the White House relied on rapid tests that aren’t as
reliable at detecting infections in asymptomatic people as those conducted in
labs, which take longer to process.
A
spokesperson for Trump’s campaign did not respond to a request for comment.
White house spokesperson Judd Deere said the White House has taken precautions
to protect against the coronavirus.
“In
addition to encouraging social distancing, readily available hand sanitizer,
regular deep cleaning of all work spaces, and recommended facial coverings,
those in close proximity to the president continue to be tested for COVID-19 to
ensure exposure is limited to the greatest extent possible,” he said.
Trump in recent
weeks has repeatedly suggested a vaccine could soon be approved and quickly
distributed, insisting that the pandemic’s end is just around the corner. But
that timeline defies expectations from government scientists, who say it could
take until mid-2021 before every American can get inoculated. And that’s in a
best-case scenario. The most promising vaccine candidates may not be ready for
months.
“It’s
important to recognize that there is not going to be a single strategy that
helps defeat this virus once and for all, we need to use all the arrows in our
quiver,” Fernandez-Lynch said. “Even if we do get a safe and effective vaccine,
it won’t be 100 percent effective and other precautions will still be
important.”
Federal
health officials, including infectious disease expert Anthony Fauci and Surgeon
General Jerome Adams, have pleaded with the public to limit social contact and
wear masks outside their homes.
But that’s
not often the message coming out of the White House.
Asked
whether the White House would start requiring employees to wear masks after
Trump’s diagnosis, Deere replied: “No.”
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