At tonight’s 5-o’clock follies, the president waved around a list of ‘locations’ that he, of course, couldn’t really describe with any kind of of clarity. From the sidelines, the aide who passed him the list tried to explain that it was ‘5,200 pieces of equipment’ around the country. It appears that this is a list of every lab, public or private, with a machine that could run a Covid-19 test, but there was no indication that any or all of those machines are actually set up to run these tests.
This was in the context of ‘so much testing that the governors didn’t understand how to access and use, and what a great job I’m doing’.
Dr. Birx took over and put up some slides to explain where in the country all of the ‘5,280 pieces of equipment are, and what type of machines they are. She flashed them pretty quickly, but I noticed that what looked like well over half of the little dots were for something called the ‘Cepheid Low-throughput Machine’. I was curious, so I did about a minute of research and I think I found it.
This is a machine that was developed for tuberculosis testing, aimed at the third world. Since it processes nasal swabs, Cepheid developed a test for Covid-19 and got a EUA for it in late March.
This machine gives a result in about 45 minutes, but it can process only a total of 96 tests in 24 hours…. and that, apparently, would require an operator to be present to run it for 24 hours every day.
I think I see about 10 of those in Maryland — hard to make out.
I just got a screen grab of the different testing machines, let’s see how it looks:
Clik here to view.
We know that the Abbot ‘high throughput’ machine is the one that Trump was fondling in the Rose Garden. Yes, it gives a result in 15 minutes (5 if you’re infected), but it’s limited to the same 96 tests per 24 hours, with the same operator requirement. I don’t see any of these in Maryland.
Ok, how about the Holologic high-throughput machine? Here’s what I found:
A diagnostic test for coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) - designed for use in a diagnostic system that can process up to 1,000 tests in 24 hours - will receive advanced development support from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services' Office of the Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response (ASPR).
The molecular diagnostic test from Hologic, Inc. becomes the first COVID-19 product selected for development through ASPR's Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority streamlined selection process, called an easy broad agency announcement (EZ-BAA).
So this one can do 1,000 tests per day. I think I see 1 of those in the state.
OK, one more and then I’m going to publish, then continue researching.
The Roche high-throughput machine…..
Clik here to view.
OK, now we’re getting somewhere! The smaller machine a little over 1,000 and the larger one is about 3,000. I found 2 of those in Maryland.
So up to 6,000 + 1,000 + 1,000 = 8,000 per day for these 4 types of machines.
I’m not seeing the kind of testing capacity needed to start opening a state in the middle of a raging pandemic — I’m seeing ‘throw together something that looks good for the president to run on about’.
Rough estimate: 5,200 machines on the list, half at 100 per 24 hours, half at 1,000 = 2,860,000 tests per day… assuming every machine can be used at 100% capacity 24/7…. and that they can get the materials for them, which nobody can seem to do this day. None of that is very likely — it’s doubtful that all of those machines are where they are needed.
I’m going to continue to research the other machines after I publish. Feel free to provide any information you have on these machines.
Cheers.