Why is the US failing at containing Covid-19? Testing. 4 months in and we still lack the proper kits and supplies to meet even the least ambitious goal of testing needed to succeed at mitigation. Forget suppression. Not even a hope and a prayer will get us there.

"In the analysis presented here, states' current testing levels are compared to two testing targets. The less ambitious target is intended to achieve what public health experts call "mitigation." This means keeping the size of current outbreaks from growing; this approach requires enough testing to get to 10% or fewer positive tests.

Thirty-two states currently aren't doing enough testing to achieve mitigation. That's probably one significant reason why alarming spikes in infections are erupting in hot spot states across the South and West.

Increasing testing is not simply a matter of ensuring an adequate supply of tests to existing testing sites. Jha's group recommends that communities test much more strategically.

For example, frequent, regular testing could be targeted at people in high-risk settings such as nursing homes, meat-packing factories and prisons. Universities, when they reopen, could test students weekly; schools could test teachers regularly, and hospitals could provide testing not only to employees, but to their families. This approach would also spot many more asymptomatic or presymptomatic cases, people who are infected and could still be spreading the virus even though they haven't developed symptoms."