California, Florida, Texas Dismiss New COVID-19 Testing Plan

By Dana Cruz First Posted: Aug 28, 2020 01:55 AM EDT

Coronavirus Testing Continues In Florida

(Photo : Photo by Joe Raedle/Getty Images)
A health care worker use a nasal swab to test Marcelino Soto for COVID-19 at a pop up testing site at the Koinonia Worship Center and Village on July 22, 2020 in Pembroke Park, Florida.

The new COVID-19 testing plan by the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) will not be followed by California, Florida, and Texas, among other states.

The new COVID-19 testing plan reduces testing for people who were exposed to the virus. CDC suggested that such tests were not needed.

But people have continually been tested even without symptoms with the former COVID-19 testing plan, a CNN report noted. Public health leaders from California, Florida, and Texas also disapproved of this new COVID-19 testing plan.

States who said they will still test asymptomatic people are Arizona, California, Connecticut, Florida, Illinois, Texas, New Jersey, and New York, reported the Reuters.

A spokesman for Texas Department of State Health Services said they would continue to test all confirmed cases' close contacts. For them, doing so will allow early case identification among people who are at the highest risk of infection.

"There's not a planned change at this point," the department said in a statement.

California officials also disagreed with the new testing plans. On Wednesday, California Governor Gavin Newsom said the new guidance would not take effect in California, reported the Los Angeles Times.

"I don't agree with the new CDC guidance," he said. "We will not be influenced by that change."

Los Angeles County Public Health Director Barbara Ferrer echoed Newsom's statements. She noted that anyone who was exposed to the virus should get tested and quarantine.

Meanwhile, the Florida Department of Health said asymptomatic testing would continue as they assess the new CDC testing plan. Texas also said it would evaluate.

New COVID-19 Testing Plan Shocks Experts

The new testing plan wasn't just a surprise to state officials but also public health experts. This prompted accusations that the guidance was politically motivated.

Even before the new guidance was put in place, COVID-19 testing rate has dropped in the United States. Last week, the average was only 675,000 in a day.

The newly recorded number of tests is lower than the 800,000 that the country saw in late July. Nationally, cases have gone down in the past five weeks, but infections are still going up in the U.S. Midwest.

To remedy the drop in testing, California signed a contract with an East Coast medical diagnostics company.In going into the contract, the state hoped to have twice the number of coronavirus tests done in a day.

They hope to expand the capacity to about 250,000 tests in a day. Under the $1.4 billion contract, a new lab will provide testing results within two days.

It is far quicker than the average of five to seven days in other labs' waiting time.The new lab is set to begin testing in November.

Officials Defend New COVID-19 Testing Plan

Assistant Secretary for Health of the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Admiral Brett Giroir said there was no pressure from the administration to change the testing guidance.

He said testing people who do not show symptoms could produce false negatives and add to the virus' spread.

CDC Director Robert Redfield issued a statement on Thursday, saying "everyone who needs a COVID-19 test can get a test," but "everyone who wants a test does not necessarily need a test."