US needs 200 million COVID-19 tests monthly to contain outbreaks while returning normal activity

US needs 200 million COVID-19 tests monthly to contain outbreaks while returning normal activity

By January, the US could reach nearly 200 million tests monthly.

And more growth is possible, experts say in a new report released Wednesday (September 9) by the Rockefeller Foundation and the Duke-Margolis Center for Health Policy.

"The U.S. will likely need very large numbers of all types of Covid-19 tests well into 2021 to contain outbreaks while returning toward normal activity, with a particular need for more screening tests that have very fast turnaround times," the report states.

"At present infection rates, a basic screening strategy will require approximately 200 million tests each month for students and staff at the nation's primary and secondary schools and residents and staff at nursing homes for them to open safely and in stages," the team wrote.

The report adds that fewer than 30 million tests are currently reported monthly in the country.

"By October 2020, based on recent and announced expected market entry, point-of-care tests will rise to at least 70 million tests per month," the team wrote.

Tuesday was the first day of school for more than 1.8 million students, with most of the nation's biggest districts offering online-only learning.

Schools are reopening as the number of Covid-19 cases among children is rising.

About 513,000 children have been infected with coronavirus as of September 3, according to the American Academy of Pediatrics and the Children's Hospital Association.

In the last two weeks of the study, the number of child cases jumped by 16% or 70,630 cases.