Buffalo, NY (WBEN) - Experts are suggesting that we are nearing the point where testing will be widespread enough to begin reopening some businesses.
On Tuesday Dr. Anthony Fauci, Director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, said that he believes anyone who needs a Coronavirus test should be able to get one by the end of May or early June.
Are we on the same timeline in Western New York?
"I think we are on a similar track," said Dr. Tom Russo, Chief of Infectious Diseases at the University at Buffalo's Jacobs School of Medicine.
"If you look at the number of tests that we've done over the last five days, we've almost doubled our capacity… I think our capabilities are increasing and we're going in the necessary direction to get us on track to open things up."
Kaleida Health has been among the organizations ramping up testing efforts.
"We're doing somewhere between 500 and 700 tests a day," said Kaleida Health CEO Jody Lomeo. "We need to have much more testing being done to have a better handle on who has it and who has had it."
Lomeo thinks we're heading in the right direction, but are not where we need to be yet.
"When you talk about 500 tests a day, that sounds like a lot… it just isn't."
Another key part of Fauci's statement was that he was talking about anyone who needs a test. That doesn't mean everyone itching to get back out to their normal routine would fit that category.
Who does?
"We need to make sure we're taking care of the essential workers," Lomeo said.
Those who work in grocery stores, hospitals, or as hospitals and firefighters would be first in line, with those with symptoms added in as well.
The testing itself still doesn't give all the answers we need yet.
