Former Google CEO Eric Schmidt calls for more rapid testing, emphasizing it can help corporate offices in the US reopen.
“There’s plenty of technology that allows for rapid testing, and with rapid testing corporations could open. People could go to work,” Schmidt told CNBC's “Squawk Box.”
However, the US does not have adequate testing infrastructure yet to broadly conduct quick-turnaround tests, accoprding to Schmidt, who is heading a group organized by Democratic Gov. Andrew Cuomo to aid the New York state boost its economy.
Schmidt slammed politicians for not promoting rapid testing more prominently in initial relief packages. “In those trillions of dollars, we did not put in place the necessary structures to do rapid testing,” he said.
Coronavirus testing in the US has reportedly improved in recent months after it was hindered by several hallenges in the initial stages of the pandemic. However, the summer surge in Covid-19 cases, particularly in the American South and West, put a strain on the turnaround time for Covid-19 testing results and showed the remaining shortcomings.
Schmidt is calling for a different kind of Covid-19 test than the lab-based diagnostic tests that have become common.
He said, “the test specificity and accuracy of these [rapid] testing systems is quite good now. However, they’re not broadly available still. That’s a tragedy.”
Moreover, Schmidt stressed the importance of further investment in Covid-19 testing because the virus will circulate for years to come, even if not at epidemic levels.
“The virus will be with us in one form or another for the rest of our lives, hopefully under control just like the flu. We will need forms of testing to make sure we keep it under control,” said Schmidt, who on Tuesday launched a podcast, called “Reimagine with Eric Schmidt."
In the near term, Schmidt noted that a strict adherence to wearing face masks and more widely available rapid testing is important. With both of those, he said, “we could get back to work.”
Coronavirus testing guidelines
Meanwhile, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has revised coronavirus testing guidelines particularly for asymptomatic individuals.
CDC no longer recommends testing for people who have been exposed to the virus, saying that individuals who do not manifest symptoms “do not necessarily need a test.”
The agency advised people who are vulnerable to the coronavirus to take the test if they have been within 6 feet of an individual who is Covid-19 positive for at least 15 minutes.
CDC previously suggested testing for individuals with a “recent known or suspected exposure” to the virus even if they did not show any symptoms. According to the CDC’s previous guidance, “the potential for asymptomatic and pre-symptomatic transmission” is cited as a reason why asymptomatic people who were exposed to the virus must be “quickly identified and tested.”
Several studies revealed that people who do not show symptoms can still carry and spread the virus. This can happen even in the presymptomatic phase a few days before symptoms manifest or if they are asymptomatic and do not experience symptoms.
