In the first weeks of the COVID-19 epidemic in the United States, a shocking breakdown in quality control at the CDC’s central laboratory in Atlanta led to cross-contamination of test materials that made the first round of tests shipped out around the country worthless. Correcting the issue took more than a month, during which time COVID-19 was spreading across the country, undetected and unacknowledged by the White House, where Donald Trump continually assured the nation that all was well. As it became clear that the number of cases was far outrunning the available tests, the FDA used emergency authority to allow the use of alternative antibody tests that ultimately flooded in from more than 200 companies. Now CBS News is reporting that not only where many of these tests flawed, but agencies knew they were flawed. But, eager to cover up the shortage of U. S. tests available, these tests were allowed to circulate, unchecked for 50 days. Meanwhile, state and county officials made decisions about how to handle social distancing and stay-at-home orders on the results of these tests.
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