CDC feeling pressure to release new test kits for coronavirus

ATLANTA — A lot of doctors and health care workers are wondering when they will get test kits for coronavirus.

Channel 2’s Carol Sbarge contacted the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on Wednesday to try and get answers, but has not yet received details on a specific date in Georgia.

The CDC said a component of the coronavirus tests it sent out initially was faulty.

The agency fixed the problems, but now local doctors and health departments want to know when widespread test kits will be available.

The public wants more testing done, too.

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Wednesday afternoon, health officials announced another death tied to the virus, this time in California.

The World Health Organization now says the death rate from coronavirus is around 3.4%. That's higher than from the flu.

The difference between the two, there is a vaccine to help prevent the flu and none yet for the coronavirus.

“It's beginning to act like the flu. It's spreading and I think it's going to hit us and I think it's a little like looking at a hurricane or a storm coming. Where is it going to hit, how hard is it going to hit. We don't know that, but I think we have to be prepared for this,” said Dr. Carlos del Rio, Emory Medical and Global Health professor.

Coronavirus so far is most serious for the elderly and people with compromised immune systems. Doctors stress we can all help lessen the spread by washing our hands often and wiping down things we touch.

Most of the deaths in the U.S. deaths from coronavirus so far have been people in a Washington state nursing home.

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