The Association of American Medical Colleges, or AAMC, is calling for a coordinated, national testing strategy to identify, track and help slow the spread of COVID-19 in the nation. Dr. Ross McKinney is the Chief Scientific Officer with the nonprofit.
"Our recommendation is that there should be more uniform standards around testing across the nation. We need to know where the virus is, we need to know because people are being tested routinely. We think there should be testing in schools, we think there should be testing when people come into the hospital or to a care facility and nursing home, we think there should be testing for first responders, and at the moment the barriers for testing are substantial."
McKinney says the federal government needs to provide items to ensure that testing takes place.
"What we've learned is that companies are worried that if they ramp up, they won't continue to have a market because the epidemic will pass. So in order to assure that they have an adequate market, the government needs to step up and actually order a lot of the equipment, even if it gets bought by somebody else, it provides a backstock so the companies can feel secure."
The AAMC was founded in 1876 and is dedicated to changing health through medical education, health care, research and community collaborations.
For more information visit www.aamc.org
