Thread by @ashishkjha

I know I tweet too much about testing but here I go again

Sorry. Testing is critical and our testing czar says testing is great. Everyone who needs one can get it

We know that's not right. But how's it actually going?

Well, the data says its actually getting worse. Yup

Thread

Overall, testing down from about 820K a week ago to 760K today.

Not too bad, right? And of course, there's FL where the hurricane shut down testing centers.

But actually, its a problem. And widespread one

In 24 states (half the nation), testing lower now than 2 weeks ago

2/4

But falling tests can be OK if states have high testing rates, few cases, low positivity rate.

But testing is falling in some of the hardest hit states

And the test positivity rate?

In 24 states where testing is down,

test positivity rate is 12.6%

This is abysmal

3/4

So these states need to be doing a lot more than they are

They are likely missing 70-80% of cases

They are not over-testing -- they are under-testing

Yet their test numbers are declining

Why?

Long wait times and long turn around times means people are just giving up

4/5

So here's the good news

7 states have given up on the much awaited but not coming national testing strategy

They have formed their own compact with help from @RockefellerFdn

Its bipartisan and will rely on antigen testing

bloomberg.com/news/articles/…

5/6

I think this is great. A huge step forward

Antigen tests used repeatedly can make a big difference

I wrote as much @TIME

time.com/5873444/radica…

So states coming together is big step forward. Congress should fund it

Its time to stop relying on the Administration

Fin