WEBVTT - Rapid Response Tests Did Not Stop Coronavirus From Entering White House

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<v Speaker 1>It's Wednesday, October seven. I'm Oscar Ramirez from the Daily

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<v Speaker 1>Dive podcast in Los Angeles, and this is reopening America.

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<v Speaker 1>How did the coronavirus infiltrate the White House? Many experts

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<v Speaker 1>say that the reliance on coronavirus rapid response test without

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<v Speaker 1>other mitigation strategies like wearing masks and social distancing might

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<v Speaker 1>have been the problem. The White House was using Abbott

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<v Speaker 1>laboratories I D now test like metal detectors, despite them

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<v Speaker 1>delivering false negatives nine percent of the time. Sarah Toy,

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<v Speaker 1>health and science reporter at the Wall Street Journal, joins

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<v Speaker 1>us for more. Thanks for joining us, Sarah, thanks for

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<v Speaker 1>having me. I wanted to talk about how the president

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<v Speaker 1>might have gotten coronavirus COVID nineteen. Obviously, we don't know.

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<v Speaker 1>It's hard to say, but a lot of people keep

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<v Speaker 1>pointing to this event a couple of saturdays ago now

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<v Speaker 1>where he basically um brought out Judge Amy Coney Barrett

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<v Speaker 1>to like nominate her and say this is going to

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<v Speaker 1>be our next new Supreme Court justice. A lot of

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<v Speaker 1>people are saying that was a big, super spreader event,

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<v Speaker 1>and we don't, like I said, we don't know exactly,

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<v Speaker 1>but it kind of has all the ingredients of that.

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<v Speaker 1>But one of the problems seems to be that the

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<v Speaker 1>administration was relying on rapid testing to help prevent the

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<v Speaker 1>spread there at the White House and instead for you know,

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<v Speaker 1>not doing the other stuff that you should be doing,

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<v Speaker 1>wearing a mask, social distancing, avoiding these large gatherings, which

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<v Speaker 1>is exactly what they had that one day. So Sarah

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<v Speaker 1>tell us a little bit about the testing protocols that

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<v Speaker 1>the White House was doing, because this might be the

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<v Speaker 1>thing that tripped them up. So we know that, um,

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<v Speaker 1>the White House used the Abbot Laboratories I d now

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<v Speaker 1>rapid test that day. Once guests got a negative test,

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<v Speaker 1>they were taken to the Rose Garden where a lot

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<v Speaker 1>of people weren't wearing masks. So basically they used it

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<v Speaker 1>as a one time screener. But public health experts I

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<v Speaker 1>spoke to say that that really isn't how it's meant

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<v Speaker 1>to be used. Regardless of the type of test, whether

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<v Speaker 1>you're talking about this rapid test or a lab based test,

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<v Speaker 1>any strategy that rely solely on testing is going to

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<v Speaker 1>have goals in it because no test is perfect. One

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<v Speaker 1>of the public health experts that you spoke to had

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<v Speaker 1>a very good analogy. They said they were using it

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<v Speaker 1>like a metal detector, screening just at the front door,

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<v Speaker 1>and once you've got to result, boom, you're in. And

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<v Speaker 1>as you mentioned, that's not really the way it works.

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<v Speaker 1>It needs to be in conjunction with all of that

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<v Speaker 1>other stuff. And these rapid response tests, especially, they can

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<v Speaker 1>produce some false negatives a higher rate than the lab tests. Yes,

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<v Speaker 1>you're right. You know, these kinds of test trade feed

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<v Speaker 1>in for accuracy. Like I said, they're not meant to

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<v Speaker 1>be one time screeners. And you know, some studies have

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<v Speaker 1>shown that this Abbot I d NOW test has around sensitivity,

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<v Speaker 1>which means it can miss about nine of infected cases.

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<v Speaker 1>And one of the experts I spoke to, a Shishi

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<v Speaker 1>Ja at Grand University, made this really good comparison that

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<v Speaker 1>that was like having a metal detector that missed ten

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<v Speaker 1>of weapons. And you know, you've never that if you

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<v Speaker 1>were protecting the president. Have you gotten any response back

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<v Speaker 1>from Abbott Laboratories as far as their testing product or

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<v Speaker 1>even with regards to this case that happened at the

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<v Speaker 1>Rose Garden. So we did reach out to Abbot to

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<v Speaker 1>see what they had to say and uh. They basically said,

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<v Speaker 1>no test to text virus immediately after the person becomes effected.

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<v Speaker 1>They said, the goal should be to test often if

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<v Speaker 1>that's not possible, to test if these an exposure Simpsons,

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<v Speaker 1>and you know, they actually brought up a really good point.

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<v Speaker 1>Dr jaw actually and and many other healthcare and public

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<v Speaker 1>health experts have been advocating for something called surveillance testing,

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<v Speaker 1>where you test the population a few times a week

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<v Speaker 1>using these rapid tests. But since they do have a

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<v Speaker 1>higher rate of false negative, you know, the idea here

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<v Speaker 1>is that if the test miss is the virus on

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<v Speaker 1>one day, it'll be more likely to catch it on

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<v Speaker 1>another day. So it's actually very important in controlling the

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<v Speaker 1>spread of COVID nineteen. We're not trying to say that

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<v Speaker 1>rapid tests are bad. When used correctly, they're great. But

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<v Speaker 1>it's not the only thing that you should be doing.

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<v Speaker 1>And I think that's the big point. There was maybe

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<v Speaker 1>this false sense of security at the White House, maybe

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<v Speaker 1>some complacency in just using these tests, and that might

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<v Speaker 1>have been what tripped them up. You know, we keep

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<v Speaker 1>going back to this Rose Garden as being this possible

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<v Speaker 1>super spreader event, only because so many people have come

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<v Speaker 1>down with positive test results for COVID nineteen that attended

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<v Speaker 1>this people that were in the president's close circle, and

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<v Speaker 1>the super spreader events are worrisome because they lead to

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<v Speaker 1>other infections down the road. Other White House journalists have

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<v Speaker 1>gotten this. Trump's body man, his campaign manager, the Press

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<v Speaker 1>secretary has gotten all of this stuff. Um, you had

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<v Speaker 1>a very specific example in your article about the Notre

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<v Speaker 1>Dame President Reverend Jakins and his experience when he arrived

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<v Speaker 1>at the White House for that event. Can you tell

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<v Speaker 1>us that story? So, Um, Reverend Jason, when he arrived

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<v Speaker 1>at the White House that day, he was taken to

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<v Speaker 1>a room where he was tested using a naval swab.

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<v Speaker 1>Then he was taken to another room with a few

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<v Speaker 1>other people to await results. Everyone in that room was

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<v Speaker 1>wearing him ask but when his test came back negative,

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<v Speaker 1>he was taken to the road garden and told he

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<v Speaker 1>no longer had to wear a mask. You know, on Friday,

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<v Speaker 1>this school then said he tested positive for the virus.

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<v Speaker 1>And that's kind of highlights the need for this sort

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<v Speaker 1>of layered approach when it comes to COVID nineteen prevention.

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<v Speaker 1>These tests aren't perfect. You really need more than just

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<v Speaker 1>the test. You need maths, you need social distancing, you

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<v Speaker 1>need to not tack people together in one space. But

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<v Speaker 1>that's not what the White House did on September. They

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<v Speaker 1>used the test to screen people one time for this event,

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<v Speaker 1>and you know, multiple public health experts we spoke too,

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<v Speaker 1>said that was just inappropriate. Sarah Toy, health and science

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<v Speaker 1>reporter at the Wall Street Journal, thank you very much

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<v Speaker 1>for joining us. Thank you. I'm Oscar Ramirez and this

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<v Speaker 1>has been reopening America. Don't forget that. For today's big

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<v Speaker 1>news stories, you can check me out on The Daily

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<v Speaker 1>Dive podcast every Monday to Friday. So follow us on

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