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After a year of struggling to boost coronavirus testing, communities across the United States are seeing plummeting demand, leading to shuttered testing sites or even attempts to return supplies.
The drop in screening comes at a significant moment in the outbreak: Experts are cautiously optimistic that COVID-19 is receding after killing more than 510,000 people in the U.S., but they are concerned that emerging variants could prolong the epidemic.
U.S. testing hit a peak on Jan. 15, when the country was averaging more than two million tests per day. Since then, the average number of daily tests has fallen more than 28 per cent. The drop mirrors declines across all major virus measures since January, including new cases, hospitalizations and deaths.
Officials say those encouraging trends — together with harsh winter weather, the end of the holiday travel season, pandemic fatigue and a growing focus on vaccination — are sapping interest in testing.
“When you combine all those together, you see this decrease,” said Dr. Richard Pescatore of the health department in Delaware, where daily testing has fallen more than 40 per cent since the January peak. “People just aren’t going to go out to testing sites.”
U.S. President Joe Biden has promised to revamp the country’s testing system by investing billions more in supplies and government co-ordination. But with demand falling fast, the country may soon have a glut of unused supplies. The U.S. will be able to conduct nearly one billion monthly tests by June, according to projections from researchers at Arizona State University. That’s more than 25 times the country’s current rate of about 40 million tests reported per month.
With more than 150 million new vaccine doses due for delivery by late March, testing is likely to fall further as local governments shift staff and resources to giving shots.
“You have to pick your battles here,” said Dr. Jeffrey Engel of the Council of State and Territorial Epidemiologists. “Everyone would agree that if you have one public health nurse, you’re going to use that person for vaccination, not testing.”
What’s happening across Canada
As of 11:15 p.m. ET on Saturday, Canada had reported 863,522 cases of COVID-19, with 30,786 cases considered active. A CBC News tally of deaths stood at 21,944.
Canada’s top doctor said that nationally, there are 964 reported cases of the coronavirus variant first detected in the U.K., up from 429 reported two weeks ago. There were also 44 cases of the variant first discovered in South Africa and two cases of the version first found in Brazil.
“The risk of rapid re-acceleration remains,” Dr. Theresa Tam said on Friday. “At the same time, new variants continue to emerge … and can become predominant.”
On Friday, Health Canada regulators approved the COVID-19 vaccine from Oxford University-AstraZeneca for use in Canada — clearing the way for millions more inoculations in the months ahead.
British Columbia recorded 589 new cases of COVID-19 and seven more deaths on Friday.
Alberta announced 356 new cases and three more deaths. Meanwhile, health officials confirmed two more deaths linked to an outbreak at the Olymel meatpacking plant in Red Deer, bringing the total to three.
Saskatchewan registered 153 new cases but no new deaths.
Manitoba confirmed 64 new cases and one death. The province’s test positivity rate is now at 3.9 per cent, its lowest point in more than four months.
WATCH | Manitoba government considers relaxing COVID-19 rules:
Provincial officials give update on COVID-19 outbreak: Thursday, February 25, 2021. 28:23
Ontario reported 1,185 new cases of COVID-19 on Saturday, as well as 16 new deaths.
The province also announced Friday it is activating an “emergency brake” in Thunder Bay and Simcoe-Muskoka, sending the regions back into lockdown to “immediately interrupt transmission and contain community spread.”
The two regions will move into the grey lockdown level of Ontario’s COVID-19 restriction plan effective 12:01 a.m. ET on Monday, March 1.
Ontario is reporting 1,185 cases of <a href=”https://twitter.com/hashtag/COVID19?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw”>#COVID19</a> and over 59,400 tests completed. Locally, there are 331 new cases in Toronto, 220 in Peel and 119 in York Region. <br> <br>As of 8:00 p.m. yesterday, 668,104 doses of the COVID-19 vaccine have been administered.
—@celliottability
Quebec reported 858 new cases and 13 new deaths on Saturday.
WATCH | Quebec plans for COVID-19 ‘immunity passports’:
Quebec plans to introduce ‘immunity passports’ at some point, which will allow people to prove they’ve been vaccinated and make it simpler to travel and perhaps even open some sectors of the economy. The concept is controversial, however, with some leaders calling it divisive and discriminatory. 4:41
New Brunswick reported two new cases on Saturday. The province is about a week away from rolling into the less-restrictive yellow phase, says Chief Medical Officer of Health Dr. Jennifer Russell.
Newfoundland and Labrador‘s active caseload dropped again as the province reported 52 new recoveries — a single-day record — and four new cases.
Nova Scotia is introducing new restrictions as it tries to stem an increase in COVID-19 cases. The province reported 10 new cases of COVID-19 on Friday after reporting eight the day before.
Beginning Saturday, restaurants and bars in the Halifax area must stop serving food and drinks by 9 p.m. and must close by 10 p.m. Restrictions are also being placed on sports, arts and culture events.
WATCH | Nova Scotia imposes new COVID-19 restrictions:
Dr. Robert Strang, Nova Scotia’s chief medical officer of health, announced new COVID-19 restrictions on Friday, in hopes of limiting the spread of the virus. 4:10
In Prince Edward Island, all young people in Summerside aged 14 to 29 are being urged to get tested immediately, whether or not they have any symptoms, after Chief Public Health Officer Dr. Heather Morrison announced a cluster of new cases there.
In Nunavut, authorities have identified another case in the hamlet of Arviat, a community of about 3,000 people where 312 cases have been confirmed since November. Active cases there are now at 26.
In the Northwest Territories, a Gahcho Kué mine worker who contracted COVID-19 is in critical condition, health authorities confirmed Friday. The territory has seen a total of four people hospitalized for complications related to COVID-19, with three connected to the Gahcho Kué mine. All but one have recovered.
What’s happening around the world
As of Saturday morning, more than 113.5 million cases of COVID-19 had been reported worldwide, with 63.8 million of them listed as recovered on a tracking site maintained by Johns Hopkins University. The global death toll stood at more than 2.5 million, according to the U.S.-based university.
In the Middle East, Iran’s Health Ministry said the country expects to receive 250,000 doses of the Sinopharm vaccine from China on Saturday. Alireza Raisi, deputy health minister, said the country will receive doses of other vaccines, including from India, in the “near future” as Iran struggles to fight the worst outbreak of the pandemic in the Middle East.
In Asia, more than 500,000 doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine arrived in Hong Kong on Saturday following a two-day delay due to export procedures, offering a second inoculation option for the city. The Pfizer-BioNTech shots will be offered to about 2.4 million eligible residents from priority groups, such as those aged 60 and older and health-care workers.
New Zealand’s Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said on Saturday that the country’s biggest city, Auckland, will be put into a seven-day lockdown from Sunday after a coronavirus community case of unknown origin was recorded. The rest of New Zealand will be put into Level 2 restrictions that limit public gatherings, among others, she told a news conference.
In Europe, French authorities have ordered a local weekend lockdown starting on Friday evening in the French Riviera city of Nice and the surrounding coastal area to try to curb the spread of the virus.
A Second World War-era plane flew Saturday over the funeral service of Capt. Sir Tom Moore to honour the veteran who single-handedly raised millions of pounds for Britain’s health workers by walking laps in his backyard. Moore’s charity walk inspired the nation and raised almost 33 million pounds ($58.5 million Cdn). Captain Tom, as he became known, died Feb. 2 in hospital after testing positive for COVID-19.
In the United States, the House of Representatives passed a $1.9 trillion US coronavirus relief package early Saturday. If approved by the Senate, the American Rescue Plan will pay for vaccines and medical supplies and send a new round of emergency financial aid to households, small businesses and state and local governments. Democrats said the package was needed to fight a pandemic that has killed more than 500,000 Americans and thrown millions out of work.
In Africa, Ivory Coast has become the second country in the world, after Ghana, to receive a shipment of COVID-19 vaccines from the global COVAX initiative. It has received 504,000 doses of the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine made by the Serum Institute of India.
