US Reduces COVID-19 Testing... 'Guidelines Being Developed to Cut Unnecessary Tests'

US Health Department Official: "Most Infectiousness Disappears 10 Days After Symptoms"
US Reports 72,278 New Cases

[Asia Economy Reporter Naju-seok] U.S. health officials announced plans to establish guidelines to reduce unnecessary testing related to the novel coronavirus infection (COVID-19). They are considering revising guidelines to avoid conducting separate tests to prove that COVID-19 positive patients are no longer contagious.

On the 16th (local time), Brett Giroir, U.S. Deputy Secretary of Health and Human Services, said, "The entire system is clogged due to unnecessary testing."

Although he did not disclose specific improvement measures, options under review include eliminating the need for retesting when COVID-19 positive individuals who have completed self-quarantine return to their daily lives.

Deputy Secretary Giroir stated, "Most people are no longer contagious 10 days after symptom onset," and added, "At this point, medically, testing is unnecessary."

On the same day, the international statistics site Worldometer reported 73,388 new COVID-19 cases in the U.S. The cumulative number of confirmed cases reached 3,695,025. The number of deaths also increased by 963, bringing the total death toll to 141,118.

[Image source=EPA Yonhap News]

The U.S. currently ranks first in the world for new confirmed cases, cumulative confirmed cases, and cumulative deaths, making it the country most severely affected by COVID-19.

Earlier, on the 10th, the U.S. recorded 72,278 new confirmed cases, setting a record for the largest daily increase in new cases. However, this record was surpassed within just a week. Although there are differences depending on the reporting agency, some media outlets reported that new COVID-19 cases in the U.S. exceeded 75,000 on that day.

In particular, Florida (13,965 cases), Texas (10,243 cases), and California (9,269 cases) saw increases. These three states have each surpassed 300,000 cumulative confirmed cases.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.