Numbers collected by Our World in Data show that the U.S. is among the countries that have been exceptionally slow in ramping up its testing of COVID-19. The number of total tests carried out in the country stood at approximately 12 per 1,000 population, or 4 million total by April 20.
The growth of testing capacities shows that the country lost crucial time early in the outbreak. Testing capacity increased only slowly until nine weeks into the outbreak. Around the last week of March, the U.S. had not even carried out 1 test per 1,000 population in total.
The example of South Korea shows how increasing testing capabilities early in the outbreak can contribute to a positive outcome. The country had administered around 2.5 tests per 1,000 population five weeks after detecting its first case and grew that cumulative total to almost 4 tests per 1,000 by week 7. South Korea has so far carried out a total of around 11 tests per 1,000 population and since it flattened the infection curve two to three weeks into the outbreak at around 10,000 cases, was able to grow testing more slowly then. The country supplemented its testing regimen with other measures like stringent contact tracing and public information campaigns.
Countries around the world have been looking at ways to open up their economies again – either sooner or later – after having stabilized new infections of COVID-19. One requirement besides establishing rules for a “new normal” in restaurants, shops and schools, is carrying out an adequate number of tests to be able to locate and isolate new infections quickly. In the United States, most experts believe that between 500,000 and 1 million tests should be carried out daily in the country in order to relax social distancing measures – the equivalent of 10-20 tests per 1,000 population added every week. At the moment testing capacity is still below 150,000 test per day, according to the COVID Tracking Project.
