High barrier for virus test backfires

An American who spent five days in Tokyo and returned to New York with a high fever was denied a Covid-19 test, raising questions about the country's preparedness in combating the coronavirus.

The man stayed five days in Japan on business. Upon his return to New York at the end of last month, he developed a 38.8C fever, coughing and aches, prompting him to head to the accident and emergency department of a Brooklyn hospital.

He had a chest X-ray and testing for flu and about 25 other viruses - all came back negative.

"At this point, the hospital called the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention requesting permission to perform the Covid-19 testing," the man wrote on the Reddit forum.

"The CDC denied the request on the grounds that I did not have the most life-threatening symptoms: chest pain and shortness of breath," he added. "According to everything I read it's very likely not to have these symptoms if you're in your 30s and relatively healthy."

The man was shocked that he was discharged with no conditions - he could ride the subway and return to work.

"Of course my doctor disagreed. She said I should treat myself as if I am infected. My partner is currently staying in a nearby hotel since we live in a studio apartment. I am choosing to perform a self-quarantine for 14 days," he wrote.

As of yesterday, the number of confirmed cases in the United States surged past 100 in 15 states, with six people dead.

Washington state has seen at least 18 confirmed cases, with indications that the virus roamed undetected for weeks.

Civic Party lawmaker Kwok Ka-ki, who is a doctor, said it is not a good practice to let a symptomatic patient go free as it could increase risks for community transmission.

He also admitted not running tests for Covid-19 on symptomatic patients could mean the announced number of cases is lower than the actual cases in the United States as some could have been undetected.

"But it has something to do with the American health-care system," said Kwok. "Many of their medical institutions and physicians are managed by the Health Maintenance Organization (an insurance structure that provides medical services through a network of doctors) and if a patient is not at high risk, they may make decisions on profit-making grounds."

In the US, authorities scrambled to prepare for more infections with an emphasis on increasing testing capacity.

The Food and Drug Administration commissioner, Stephen Hahn, said he expects that by the end of this week close to a million coronavirus tests will be completed.

Vice President Mike Pence, speaking at a White House briefing, said the risk to Americans from coronavirus remained low.

Earlier in the day, two senior officials said the Donald Trump administration was weighing whether to have the president issue an emergency declaration to help cover state and local costs of responding to the coronavirus.

Further tightening of travel restrictions on countries hard-hit by the virus also were under consideration, Trump said during a meeting with pharmaceutical company executives.