ASCP Urges President Biden, Congress to Develop New COVID-19 Testing Strategy

As Joe Biden was officially sworn in as the 46th President of the United States, ASCP released today a new call for the development of a Comprehensive, National COVID-19 Laboratory Testing and Support Strategy. ASCP urged the development of a new testing strategy because of the massive surge in coronavirus cases and the constant challenges hampering America’s public and clinical laboratories to increase testing capacity.

Since the start of the coronavirus pandemic, clinical laboratories across the United States have performed more than 275 million tests for the virus, with approximately one-fifth of that performed in the last 30 days alone. Despite these numbers, experts warn that far more testing is needed to effectively manage the pandemic.

Increasing testing capacity has been problematic. Laboratories are constantly facing challenges obtaining critical laboratory supplies. In addition, laboratories are running into obstacles ensuring that they have the laboratory workforce needed to maximize testing output. A recent New York Times article stated that “Across the nation, testing teams are grappling with burnout [and] repetitive-stress injuries…” among other issues.   

To better support our nation’s laboratory workforce, ASCP has called on federal policymakers to immediately develop a Comprehensive, National COVID-19 Laboratory Testing and Support Strategy. To help support these recommendations, ASCP released today an Action Alert encouraging its 100,000+ members and the broader laboratory community to urge their elected officials to develop a new testing strategy to improve laboratory testing capacity.

ASCP had already been in touch with then President-elect Joe Biden’s Transition Team, outlining several recommendations to expand COVID-19 testing. Indeed, shortly thereafter, President Biden outlined his American Rescue Plan, which proposes to scale up testing to stop the spread of COVID and provide an additional $50 billion to support “a massive expansion of testing, providing funds for the purchase of rapid tests, investments to expand lab capacity, and support to help schools and local governments implement regular testing protocols.”

The recommendations outlined in ASCP’s Testing Strategy document call on the federal government to address the following issues: intensify coordination, communication and transparency efforts; revitalize the unreliable laboratory supply chain; recognize the critical role that laboratory professionals provide to mitigating the COVID-19 pandemic; include laboratory medicine expertise in the your Administration’s COVID advisory panel; ensure optimum and transparent reporting mandates; intensify efforts to vaccinate all Americans; and intensify research and development of COVID-19 prognostic markers and therapeutics. 

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