Coronavirus: US criticised for early missteps after virus outbreak, allowing it to spread undetected

The United States has been criticised for early missteps and a delayed response to the coronavirus outbreak, allowing the virus to spread undetected.

The United States has been criticised for early missteps and a delayed response to the coronavirus outbreak, allowing the virus to spread undetected there.

A report published in the Journal of the American Medical Association on Monday said the limit of the number of people tested and problems with testing equipment have slowed the country’s fight against COVID-19.

“In the early stages, COVID-19 has spread beyond the nation’s ability to detect it,” a team of Stanford University experts wrote.

RELATED: Leaders’ fatal error in US coronavirus response

RELATED: Coronavirus declared a pandemic

They said state laboratories also encountered difficulty verifying the results – the reasons for which remain under investigation.

It references a woman who was infected in California and refused a test for the virus because she had not travelled to China, where the outbreak began in December.

“The CDC also initially limited access to testing to a narrow group of individuals with known exposure. The delayed discovery of a case of COVID-19 in California, followed quickly by evidence of community transmission in multiple states, revealed the shortcomings of this strategy,” the report said.

The United States has been criticised for early missteps and a delayed response to the coronavirus outbreak. Picture: Evan Vucci/AP

The woman was tested and confirmed to have the virus in the first-known case of community transmission in the US.

The report said that widespread testing, even for patients with mild symptoms, could overwhelm the health industry and make it more difficult for patients with severe symptoms to get proper treatment.

The US Government has criticised China’s early efforts to contain the disease, accusing Chinese officials of not being open about the spread at its onset.

Last week, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo accused the country of sharing inadequate information that put the US “behind the curve” for dealing with the virus.

But the Trump administration has been slammed for its own handling of the disease, after Vice President Mike Pence, who has been tasked with leading the US response to the disease, admitted last week that there were not enough diagnostic tests to meet demand.

President Donald Trump said he will make a prime time address later today on measures to confront the growing health and economic challenges to the United States from the novel coronavirus.

“I’ll be making a statement later on tonight as to what I have decided to do,” he told reporters at the White House.

A testing centre is set up in Colorado for coronavirus. Picture: RJ Sangosti/The Denver Post via AP

Mr Trump said he would explain his plan for tackling both the health crisis, as the virus rapidly multiplies, and economic assistance. He did not answer reporters’ questions about whether he was planning to impose new travel restrictions.

RELATED: Virus patient visits Woolworths

RELATED: What life will be like in virus lockdown

Earlier he had tweeted he was “fully prepared to use the full power of the Federal Government to deal with our current challenge of the CoronaVirus!”

Fallout from the spreading coronavirus, which gives flu-like symptoms and has claimed more than 4,500 lives worldwide, has extended into acute difficulties for parts of the economy and a tanking stock market.

Vice President Mike Pence, has admitted the US didn’t have enough diagnostic tests to meet demand. Picture: Manuel Balce Ceneta/AP

Mr Trump, who has come under criticism for his response to the crisis, made his comments while meeting with US bank leaders on ways of assisting consumers and small businesses.

He said “we’ll be doing a lot of additional work with small businesses …, many billions of dollars.”

He is expected to announce short-term tax breaks or other forms of relief for individuals and also a stimulus package to help the economy from entering a negative spin that some fear could end in recession.

The President did not say if he would meet demands from some politicians on declaring a national state of emergency, which would free up federal disaster funds.

— with AFP