Many states with reopening dates aren't testing enough to 'even consider' reopening, study finds

(Image credit: CHANDAN KHANNA/AFP via Getty Images)

published 27 April 2020

Several states are planning to loosen social distancing guidelines and let business resume as usual. Some have already done so.

But a study from Harvard University and Stat News suggests more than half of the country "will have to significantly step up their COVID-19 testing to even consider starting to relax stay-at-home orders." While some states are testing above capacity, others — namely hard-hit states — will have to perform thousands more tests per day to safely reopen.

Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp has been criticized, even by some of his fellow Republicans, for moving to reopen gyms, hairdressers, and theaters before it's safe to do so. Harvard and Stat News' study backs this up: "To catch hot spots before they turn into wildfires of disease, Georgia must do 9,600 to 10,000 tests per day," Stat News writes. It's currently averaging around 4,000. Florida has moved toward reopening despite testing just over 10,000 people per day when it should be hitting 16,000. But South Carolina, which has also cautiously reopened in the past week, recently hit the daily window of 1,200-1,600 tests the study deemed necessary for a safe resumption of business.

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Stat News is sure to note that "performing enough tests is only one of the essential steps before states can reopen," and that the study is based on "best-case scenarios." Testing result turnarounds need to be sped up, exposed people need to be identified more quickly, and hospitals and nursing homes need more protective supplies, to name a few. Find the whole study at Stat News.

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Kathryn is a graduate of Syracuse University, with degrees in magazine journalism and information technology, along with hours to earn another degree after working at SU's independent paper The Daily Orange. She's currently recovering from a horse addiction while living in New York City, and likes to share her extremely dry sense of humor on Twitter.