US’ CDC should stop prioritising VIPs for coronavirus tests

When something is in short supply, getting it can depend on who you know. That’s true of the coronavirus test, with an added twist.
A striking number of rich and famous people, from basketball star Kevin Durant to Senator Rand Paul, have tested positive for Covid-19 without showing symptoms of the disease, let alone being hospitalised. That’s led to charges of unfair access. New York City Mayor Bill De Blasio criticised Durant’s team, the Brooklyn Nets, for testing its players. “An entire NBA team should not get tested for Covid-19 while there are critically ill patients waiting to be tested,” he said on Twitter. “Tests should not be for the wealthy, but for the sick.”
Even without pull, however, the rationing criteria used for coronavirus tests around the US make it likely that people in some social and professional circles can get the tests while most can’t. Depending on where you live, if you’ve been in contact with someone who tested positive, you may be able to get a test even without symptoms. (My hometown of Los Angeles is among the places that have given up on testing patients without dire symptoms, who would just be told to self-quarantine.)
The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) and Prevention’s guidelines give priority to people “who within 14 days of symptom onset had close
contact with a suspect or
laboratory-confirmed Covid-19 patient, or who have a history
of travel from affected geographic areas.”
The result is that work, family and social circles where a single individual tests positive get bumped up the line. See the National Basketball Association, or Congress, or various now-shuttered Hollywood sets. The same is true of international travellers. Their doctors can make legitimate claims to be following the rules. “We were following directives,” said NBA Commissioner Adam Silver in response to charges of special treatment.
There were already good epidemiological reasons to test broadly, collecting important data about the shape and extent of the epidemic. Now the skewed sample of those tested adds another dimension to case for random testing: fairness.
Many more people have been exposed to the virus than can prove it. When they come down with high fevers and body-wracking coughs, they face the debilitating prospect of persuading someone to test them — or even being turned away.
—Bloomberg

Virginia Postrel is a Bloomberg Opinion columnist. She was the editor of Reason magazine and a columnist for the Wall Street Journal, the Atlantic, the New York Times and Forbes. Her books include “The Power of Glamour.”