L.A. County Moves To Stop Testing Symptomatic Patients Amid Shortage of Coronavirus Tests

L.A. County has forgone coronavirus testing, as the nation’s largest municipal health system becomes overrun with patients and understocked of test kits.

According to the Los Angeles Times, the new order was sent by the Los Angeles County Department of Health on Thursday, encouraging doctors to skip testing symptomatic patients if their treatment is the same regardless of the result. Instead, the department ordered doctors to test only when “a diagnostic result will change clinical management or inform public health response.”

“[The department] is shifting from a strategy of case containment to slowing disease transmission and averting excess morbidity and mortality,” the guidance read.

The guidance comes after weeks of complaints of shortages, unstaffed hospitals, and understocked testing kits. It also comes amid the growing coronavirus outbreak, which has since infected more than 250,000, claiming the lives of over 11,000 worldwide.

Now, as a result, officials may never know how many people have actually tested positive for the virus.

However, according to the publication, the letter also said that with the increase of private test labs, the health department will focus on tests that will directly prevent outbreaks in hospitals and “congregate living settings,” like nursing homes.