C.D.C. Test Counting Error Leaves Epidemiologists 'Really Baffled'

The Centers for Disease Control has been lumping together tests for active coronavirus with tests for recovered patients, boosting testing totals but muddying the pandemic's course.

Currently, there are two main tests for Covid-19. Molecular, or swab tests detect active infection while serology, or antibody tests detect prior infection of Covid-19. As it tracks the spread of the Coronavirus, however, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is combining the statistics for those two tests, which clouds the overall impact of the pandemic, while raising the percentage of Americans tested. Many epidemiologists are shocked by this combination of data, because the two tests measure different things and shouldn’t be mixed. Additionally, combining the test results can double count patients who have had both diagnostic and serology tests, which can significantly alter the data. Some are connecting this combination to President Trump, who boasts about the country’s ability to test widely, but the CDC says there was no ill intent, and attributed the error confusion and fatigue in overworked state health departments. Moving forward, both state and federal agencies are working to differentiate the differest types of tests, and report the data more accurately.