As if there weren’t enough problems in the US with COVID-19 (e.g. idiots ignoring quarantine, Cheetolini’s cutbacks and obsession with money), now there’s incompetence at the CDC. The “COVID-19 tests” made by the CDC were tainted with COVID-19. Every single one of them is worthless, and all the tests done in February and March will have to be redone. Who knows how many weeks and lives are lost because of this?
CDC’s failed coronavirus tests were tainted with coronavirus, feds confirm
As the new coronavirus took root across America, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention sent states tainted test kits in early February that were themselves seeded with the virus, federal officials have confirmed.
The contamination made the tests uninterpretable, and—because testing is crucial for containment efforts—it lost the country invaluable time to get ahead of the advancing pandemic.
The CDC had been vague about what went wrong with the tests, initially only saying that “a problem in the manufacturing of one of the reagents” had led to the failure. Subsequent reporting suggested that the problem was with a negative control—that is, a part of the test meant to be free of any trace of the coronavirus as a critical reference for confirming that the test was working properly overall.
This isn’t the only incompetence of the day to report. More below. . . .
The 700 crew of a Taiwan navy ship were exposed while in Palau. For reasons not yet explained, the sailors were allowed to disperse upon their return to Taiwan instead of being confined to the base. The thirty potential carriers travelled to several cities, using passenger rail. A few dozen infected sailors have now exposed thousands of people.
This comes after a week where the number of active cases dropped from 295 to 213, including two days of no new reported infections. Now the number has risen again.
CORONAVIRUS/Earliest cases of Navy infections happened on ship: CECC
Taipei, April 20 (CNA) The earliest cases of a recent cluster infection of the new coronavirus disease (COVID-19) aboard a Taiwan naval ship happened after the sailors left Taiwan, according to the Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC) Monday.
As of Monday, 24 of 744 military personnel returning from a goodwill mission to Taiwan’s diplomatic ally Palau had been confirmed as having COVID-19, the first cases of the disease to hit Taiwan’s military.
Another three who tested negative for COVID-19 and were not included in the 24 confirmed cases tested positive for antibodies related to the disease, indicating they had it at one point and were likely the first on the ship to get it.
[. . .]
CECC chief, Health Minister Chen Shih-chung (陳時中), said on Saturday he suspected that the 24 confirmed cases contracted the virus during their time in Palau.
But he retracted that statement Sunday, and noted instead that health authorities were still conducting an investigation to determine if the 24 contracted the virus locally or overseas.
As part of the government’s tracking of infections, they release maps of hot spots where potential infections are known. One of the locations exposed by the sailors was Taipei Main Station, the largest rail hub in the country.
I was there on Sunday, after the sailors were there. Now I may need to be tested.
Today, the government did a trial run of enacting a country wide mandatory 21 day quarantine period. Two weeks would be for the incubation period, plus a “cooling off” period in case of delayed reactions. Everyone who shows symptoms would be collected and taken to hospital.
On the bright side, Taiwan’s exports were up 40% in March due to the demand for new smartphones and computers for people working and studying at home (home to Acer, ASUS, HTC, ATI, and other tech companies). The economy and work have seen some effects, but only the entertainment industry has suffered heavily (bars, nightclubs, KTV, etc.).