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With governors around the nation lifting stay-at-home orders implemented to slow the spread of coronavirus, many are now seeking new combatants: contact tracers. These hired public health officials work with patients to help them recall everyone they had close contact with during the time when they were most infectious. It’s no easy task. (Lee, 4/30)

New York will hire up to 17,000 contact tracers as part of a statewide effort to combat the novel coronavirus pandemic by tracking down people who have gone near those infected by Covid-19. New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo said at a Thursday press conference that the state needs at least 30 tracers for every 100,000 people to follow the path of those infected and determine whether their contacts should be isolated. (Li, 4/30)

Governor Charlie Baker implored residents Thursday to cooperate if they’re reached by a state team that is tracking down people infected with the coronavirus and those who have been in contact with them. Speaking during his daily briefing, Baker said the team of roughly 1,000 callers has made contact with some 5,000 residents over the past month, adding that “now, obviously the really tough stuff begins” as the tracers work to reach more people by phone. (Andersen, Reiss and Finucane, 4/30)

California public health officials are urging all counties to expand testing to any residents with symptoms of COVID-19, a sign of their growing confidence that testing capacity has increased enough to handle a significant portion of the state’s population. According to the new guidelines, symptomatic low-risk people — including young adults without underlying health conditions — are now among the state’s top priorities for testing, along with six other specified groups. (Baumgaertner, Mason and Cosgrove, 4/30)

Plans are still being finalized to begin widespread coronavirus testing in Southern Nevada, including the use of “strike teams” to target susceptible communities as well as the creation of new testing sites. But an announcement on new sites could come as soon as Friday, Clark County spokesman Erik Pappa said Wednesday. (Hynes and Erickson, 4/29)

On Monday, Georgia Department of Public Health Commissioner Dr. Kathleen Toomey privately told local department leaders about an ambitious statewide goal of conducting 100,000 tests in 10 days. On Tuesday, a public announcement by Gov. Brian Kemp’s office made that goal seem within reach. Nearly 13,000 tests were conducted that day alone, and DPH will continue to work to push these numbers upwards, Toomey said. (Mariano, 4/30)

Kaiser Health News: Do-It-Yourself Cheek Swab Tested As Next Best Thing To Detect Coronavirus
Coronavirus testing is commonly an unpleasant, even painful experience in which a health care provider pushes a torturously long swab up your nostril. President Donald Trump declared that submitting to the process was “a little bit difficult.” Since late March, three Southern California jurisdictions ― Los Angeles County, and the cities of L.A. and Long Beach ― have offered a more palatable alternative to this nasopharyngeal sampling, whose very name poses a challenge. (Tuller, 5/1)

Kaiser Health News and Politifact HealthCheck: Trump’s Claim That U.S. Tested More Than All Countries Combined Is ‘Pants On Fire’ Wrong
Responding to weeks of criticism over his administration’s COVID-19 response, President Donald Trump claimed at a White House briefing that the United States has well surpassed other countries in testing people for the virus. “We’ve tested more than every country combined,” Trump said April 27. It was a variation on claims he had made April 24, as well as on Twitter the day after — when he said the United States had tested “more than any other country in the World, and even more than all major countries combined.” (Luthra, 5/1)

As the coronavirus pandemic engulfed the United States, Joe Shia, a consultant to Chinese medical companies, said he was bombarded with inquiries from American firms who saw a golden opportunity in selling tests to determine coronavirus immunity. Unlike his typical clients, some firms seeking his help had never before sold medical equipment. Others wanted to register test kits with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration without approval from the manufacturer, or to offer home-based tests, which are not allowed by the FDA. One was in the window business, he said. (Humer, Tanfani and Liu, 4/30)