NR Coronavirus Update: U.S. Ramps Up Testing Capacity as Cases Grow in New York, California, Washington

After a slow rollout of coronavirus testing, the U.S. has ramped up its testing capacity, performing over 27,000 tests on March 19. New York, California, and Washington — the current epicenters of the domestic outbreak — have confirmed thousands of new cases as they gain the ability to administer more tests. The American Enterprise Institute’s (AEI) estimates put domestic testing capacity around 36,000. While that figure still falls far short of those in as Singapore and South Korea, AEI projects that the U.S. will be able to test more than 100,000 people by the end of the month. At least that many will be necessary to roll back the stringent social-distancing measures in place across the country.

Last night, California governor Gavin Newsom issued a statewide “stay at home” order, effective indefinitely until the state’s outbreak shows signs of abating. Essential services such as gas stations and pharmacies will continue to operate. In New York, the number of confirmed cases surpassed 4,000 yesterday, while California and Washington remain in the low to mid thousands. While current data are unreliable due to a persistent shortage of testing, the growth curve of new cases in the U.S. remains exponential and shows no signs of flattening.

China reported zero cases of domestic transmission for the third day in a row, with new cases coming from abroad. As many of you pointed out in the comments yesterday, China’s official numbers should be taken with a grain of salt, since the country’s leadership covered up the initial outbreak and has a history of misreporting data. Still, there’s broad consensus that China has contained the virus domestically. In Italy and Iran, cases continue to mount, but in recent days we’ve seen signs of the growth rate slowing. We’ll be watching the U.K. closely, as Downing Street initially took an unorthodox approach to the outbreak, hoping to build “herd immunity” in the country. The U.K. has since been on lockdown, and reported more than 500 new cases yesterday, bringing the total to over 3,000.

Yesterday, Italy’s death toll surpassed that of China. The devastation in Italy has been attributed to its large portion of elderly citizens and its slow response to the crisis. However, the growth rate of new cases has slowed slightly, which indicates that the death toll may level off in the coming weeks. 205 Americans have died from coronavirus, more than double the death toll in South Korea, which stemmed the outbreak early with robust testing and social distancing. In Iran, numerous government officials have contracted the illness, 12 of whom have died. Iranian president Hassan Rouhani only recently closed religious sites.