Slowing testing doesn’t slow coronavirus

Health experts have argued all along that when testing increases, we will see more positive cases of the coronavirus. But that is hardly an argument for reducing the number of tests. That is what President Trump said at his weekend rally. He said, “When you do testing to that extent you’re gonna find more cases. So I said to my people slow the testing down.” Trump was rightly condemned for his comments, which suggested he is putting politics above people. This is not the first time Trump has suggested that the rate of testing be slowed down, so that there are fewer positive cases. In fact, he has said so repeatedly. But he seemingly fails to realize that reducing the number of tests doesn’t actually reduce the number of cases. It only reduces the number of cases we know about. It doesn’t change how many people are suffering from the coronavirus. The goal should be more tests, not fewer. The more we test, the more positive results we find, the sooner we can get the virus under control. A spokesman now claims Trump didn’t really mean the U.S. should conduct fewer tests, that he was just joking. The rising number of coronavirus cases is hardly a laughing matter, certainly for the families of the more than 120,000 Americans who have now lost their lives to the virus.