Malibu Has Tests, But California Doesn’t – Newsom Gets Pledge From Trump For More Supplies
Written by 991KBU on April 23, 2020
Getting back to tests … although Malibu has a good supply … the state has a big shortage.
California Governor Gavin Newsom says California still doesn’t have enough testing capacity to lift its stay-at-home orders.
Newsom said he had a “pointed, honest conversation” with President Donald Trump about the shortage yesterday morning.
The president promised to send California a minimum of 100,000 swabs this week, 250,000 next week and even more the following week.
State officials say testing providers are still low on swabs needed to collect samples.
They do not have enough of the viral transport medium … the stuff that the sterile solution swabs must be placed in once they are used to collect a sample.
And labs are also short on RNA extraction kits, which provide components needed to run COVID-19 diagnostic tests.
California isn’t ready to reopen its economy, Gov. Gavin Newsom announced Wednesday, but hospitals can take the first step in loosening coronavirus restrictions and begin scheduling surgeries.
Purely cosmetic surgeries are still prohibited, Newsom said, but essential non-emergency surgeries like heart valve operations and pre-cancerous tumor removals can resume.
