Mitigating COVID-19 outbreak via high testing capacity and strong transmission-intervention in the United States

Shi Chen; Qin Li; Song Gao; Yuhao Kang; Xun Shi

To combat the spread of COVID-19, the government has taken actions in various dimensions, including banning or discouraging domestic and international travels, announcing stay-at-home orders to curb non-essential interactions for reducing transmission rate, and urging commercial laboratories to increase test capacity. To curb traveling, on January 31, the United States government announced travel restrictions on travelers from China; on February 29, it announced travel ban against Iran and advised travel with caution to Europe (1) ; on March 11, it announced travel restrictions on most of European countries. To reduce human-interactions, on March 13, a national emergency was declared; as of March 28, 39 states had issued either statewide or regionally stay-at-home or shelter-in-place order, requiring residents to stay indoors except for essential activities. To increase test capacities, on February 4, the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved the United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)'s test, which was later to be proved inconclusive (2); on February 29, the FDA relaxed its rules for some laboratories, allowing them to start testing before the agency granting its approvals; on March 27, FDA issued an Emergency Use Authorization to a medical device maker, the Abbott Labs, for the use of a coronavirus test that delivers quick testing results (3).