Deepening crisis confronts nation

With the World Health Organization declaring a pandemic, the New York City St. Patrick’s Day parade likely being canceled, colleges and universities switching to virtual learning, and the NBA suspending its season, the uncertainty and concern over the coronavirus outbreak continues to escalate.

In a sobering Oval Office speech Wednesday night, President Donald Trump tried to temper those fears, offering proposals for economic relief and, perhaps most significantly, instituting a 30-day ban of travel from Europe. However, Trump also seemed hesitant and uncertain in his reassurances. He lacked detail and specifics, and focused too much on the foreign origins of a virus that's now entrenched here, without dealing enough with how the nation will address the existing spread.

The number of confirmed U.S. cases unsurprisingly continues to grow, with more than 1,000 nationwide, including at least 216 in New York State, 34 of which are on Long Island. Worldwide, more than 120,000 people have become infected.

Even though the pace of increase tracks what’s happening overseas and experts warn that the outbreak will get worse before it gets better, New York’s response remains hamstrung as officials try to fight the virus and the fear that surrounds it. The lack of sufficient testing and equipment, in particular, is a massive impediment.

Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo said Wednesday that while China has conducted 200,000 tests a day, the United States has done just 5,000 total. So, he has asked 28 private labs across the state to do their own testing — though that requires federal approval, too, he said.

The Food and Drug Administration and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention also must immediately approve automated testing, which would significantly increase capacity.

More supplies and equipment are needed, too. At Stony Brook University Hospital, for instance, officials are waiting for a back-ordered machine to begin in-house manual testing.

Meanwhile, CDC officials said Wednesday there are no plans for widespread drive-thru testing centers. That’s short-sighted. The method has worked in South Korea and Washington state has opened one. New York’s plan for a satellite testing site in New Rochelle could be replicated throughout the state, possibly with a similar drive-thru model.

Only when testing dramatically increases will we have a better handle on how many cases we’re dealing with, and how to better calibrate the response.

As testing capacity expands, New York must be prepared for what’s likely to come. Canceling large-scale events makes sense when there is still so much we don’t know about this disease. Of even greater concern: the state’s nursing homes, and assisted living and other senior care facilities. Trump alluded to that concern, suggesting the suspension of unnecessary visitation. State officials said further guidance is coming; it’s urgently needed to protect our most vulnerable population. Limiting visitation is the right move; it's likely those efforts will have to expand.

Trump was right, too, to suggest this was a time to put aside partisanship. Hopefully, he will live up to his own prescription.

This is the time for more information, more testing, and more detailed planning. Addressing this pandemic requires nothing less.

— The editorial board