The chaos of covid-19 testing data in the US
Update: This episode has ended
More on coronavirus
Our most essential coverage of covid-19 is free, including:
How does the coronavirus work?
What are the potential treatments?
What's the right way to do social distancing?
Other frequently asked questions about coronavirus
---
Newsletter: Coronavirus Tech Report
Zoom show: Radio Corona
See also:
Please click here to subscribe and support our non-profit journalism.
In this week's episode of Radio Corona, we explored why the US has no idea how to manage all the testing data it’s collecting.
Last week, reporter Neel Patel wrote about how the US's decentralized public health system means there are no common standards for reporting testing data. That could create chaos in attempts to fight the pandemic, especially when it comes to making decisions about when and how to ease lockdown restrictions.
On Radio Corona, Gideon Lichfield, editor-in-chief of MIT Technology Review, discussed the problem of testing data and how it might be fixed with Neel and one of his sources—Erich Huang, assistant dean of bioinformatics at Duke University.
You can watch the interview below. And check out previous episodes of Radio Corona on topics like vaccine trials, drug research, working from home, the economic impacts of covid, pandemic preparedness, and more.