Big Push On Testing News Today

Safely. >> reporter: another sign that the swabs could play a massive role in our return to normalcy. how far away are we from a time when well have enough toasts accomplish that? >> we can all hope that the testing bottlenecks are resolved quickly, but im rather convinced that this will take some time. >> now, a lot of the criticism here is not just about the quantity of testing but its about developing a more aggressive strategy. now, for example, pills that treat covid, they may be available ...

Of protection or security if they all got a rapid test. >> reporter: dr. william schaffner is part of the advisory committee on immunization practices. >> im certainly disappointed and concerned that testing is not more widely available. >> reporter: number parts of the country, finding a test is extremely difficult. appointments are tough to get and over-the-counter rapid tests are selling out online and at pharmacies. dr. brook watts works with metro health in ohio. >> there isnt a rapid test ...

Theres plenty offing. >> reporter: but covid is surging and the testing supply hasnt kept up. >> we need to flood the system with tests and have tests available for anyone who wants them. >> reporter: senior administration officials tell cnn that president biden is set to announce new testing measures today. they will purchase half a billion at-home rapid tests to be delivered to americans for free starting in serbia and they will set up more federal testing sites including one in new york city ...

We begin this hour with the presidents fight against the pandemic. a short time from now hell speak to the nation and lay out his plan for fighting the new winter surge. so far we know that plan will include expanding access to testing, making some 500 million at-home test kits available to americans as soon as next month. increased support for hospitals asking the pentagon to deploy troops to some of the hardest hit areas and stepping up vaccine capacity, including new pop yup sites for people ...

Best to protect them as well as ourselves. it is stunning how quickly this has moved. not even a month has passed since we first heard about omicron. look whats happened in the past couple of weeks. less than 1% of new cases were only krofnlt week ending december 11th that jump to 12.6 and now 73.2% so in two weeks it went from almost nothing to being almost three-quarters of the new cases in the united states. now, lets take a look at where its even higher than 73%. there are pockets in the sou...

Analyst dr. leana wen. as gabe is laying out the problems with testing in the country which has been all along the pandemic, we also know that making a big push on testing is a central part of what the president is announcing today. half a billion tests to be made available to ship to peoples homes. it is a very dig number, but is it enough? >> its not nearly enough. its actually too little too late though do condemn the commend the biden administration that home testing and mailing testing to a...

Friends and family are fearing for begin dinner, for casual events. testing should not be the limiting factor. we shouldnt be having to ration tests and think if this event is pretty important, we need to test for that. testing needs to become a ubiquitous part of our lives as we figure out how to move on and live with covid-19. >> when you lay it out that way, it sounds like theres no way, that it will be a long way off before testing availability is ramped up enough at this point to really mak...

For the testing, the uk, so many other countries have figured out how to do this. america do this, too. it requires political will. it requires testing becoming the number one priority going forward as much as vaccines because i think the biden administration has put all their eggs in the vaccine basket and real forgot that testing is this other super important component along by the way with masking. it is a vaccines, testing and masking that are going to get us through this. >> dr. fauci said ...

More apparent. nearly two years into the pandemic, you may be wondering why is this still a problem? cnns gabe cohen has been looking at that. hes joining me right now. gabe, what have you found? >> well, kate right now, the situation is not good. many people either cant find tests or they are waiting in line for hours to get swabbed ahead of the holidays, but now the biden administration is making a massive investment in testing. they are buying half a billion at-home rapid tests that they will...

Of greater manchester and lancashire in the coming weeks. in bolton, a big push on testing but also vaccinations has succeeded in cutting the infection rate by around a quarter injust ten days. the plan is to replicate that success across the region. here in stockport, in the south of greater manchester, the infection rate has grown by 150% in just a week. now, thats obviously meant some schoolchildren have been sent home, even some businesses have had to close as staff self—isolate. but the r...