The United States surpassed 150,000 deaths linked to the coronavirus on Wednesday, a number that is both higher than any other country and almost a quarter of the total confirmed deaths globally. Per capita, the U.S. ranks sixth, trialing behind the United Kingdom, Spain, Italy, Peru and Chile. The daily death rate in the U.S. has been steadily increasing since early June, with states in the Southern and Western portions of the country experiencing an alarming increase in infection rates, harming any progress made towards reopening businesses and keeping millions of Americans out of work.
Meanwhile, the testing issue in the U.S. has evolved from lack of supplies to an overload of tests awaiting analysis in laboratories. Recently, testing turnaround time--the time it takes from a test being administered to being analyzed in a lab for results--exceeded seven days in some parts of the country, making tracking and isolating cases difficult if not near impossible. On Wednesday, Quest Diagnostics announced that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration granted the company emergency use authorization for a new test analysis technique that would cut the testing turn around time to two to three days for most people. The new method will allow the lab company to scale up its overall testing capacity by 35,000 tests per day over the next several weeks. In addition, Quest will be able to pool tests, meaning testing multiple tests at once and only retesting individually if the results come back positive, which can increase testing speed indefinitely.
Coronavirus Conspiracy Theories
The coronavirus pandemic has resulted in two outbreaks: a viral health crisis and an onslaught of conspiracy theories, ranging from false cures, to origin hoaxes, to anti-mask myths. Since the early days of the pandemic, large social media platforms like Facebook (NASDAQ: FB) and Twitter (NYSE: TWTR) have taken steps to combat false information, like theories that go against scientific consensus. However, that does not stop theories from being created and spread amongst various communities.
This week saw the publishing and wide circulation of a video from a group that calls themselves America's Frontline Doctors. In the video, several doctors are standing in front of the steps of the Supreme Court, stating that the coronavirus has a cure and efforts to contain the virus like wearing masks and social restrictions are unnecessary. One of the doctors in the video, praised the healing power of hydroxychloroquine when combined with drugs like zinc and a strong antibiotic.
Last month, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration revoked its emergency use authorization for the anti-malaria drugs hydroxychloroquine and chloroquine for the treatment of COVID-19. This action was due to mounting evidence from global studies showing that the drug does not treat coronavirus infection, as well as causing further health complications in severe patients like abnormal heart rhythm. Even if the anti-malaria drug was an effective treatment, the video also makes dangerous assertions that masks and other social restrictions are not needed, even though these measures help slow the spread of the outbreak.
Nevertheless, the America's Frontline Doctors video spread quickly over social media, amassing millions of views and being retweeted by President Donald Trump before being taken down from multiple social media platforms for violating misinformation policies.
When asked about the video by reports during a press conference on Tuesday, Trump stated that he was not making claims that the anti-malaria drug is a proven coronavirus treatment, but was using the video to recommend the drug to others, including doctors. In the past, Trump has supported the use of the drug for the treatment of coronavirus infection before the drug was given time to go through clinical trials.