By Marisa hHerman From Newsmax

Trump administration health officials are eyeing a new way to test people for coronavirus—in groups, The Washington Post reports.

Dr. Anthony Fauci told the newspaper that the concept of “pool testing” is being explored by health officials in “intense discussions.”

Pool testing works by testing groups of people together so fewer resources are used and infected patients can be identified and isolated more quickly. 

“Something’s not working,” Fauci said of the current approach. “I mean, you can do all the diagramming you want, but something is not working.”

Pool testing works by combining samples from a group of people. One test is used on the entire grouping. If the test comes back negative, researchers move onto the next sample group. If the test comes back positive, then each person is individually tested.

“What you need to do is find the penetration of infected people in your society,” Fauci told the newspaper. “And the only way you know that is by casting a broad net.”

White House aides told Politico the White House was not considering any change in strategy to combat the health pandemic.

But Fauci told WaPo as cases climb, a change may be needed, and quick, in order to better identify asymptomatic people who may be unknowingly spreading the virus.

He said the traditional method of fighting the virus through identification, isolation and contact tracing is difficult to do if a person isn’t experiencing symptoms. He said pool testing may be a way to find the asymptomatic carriers.

“We now know the level of virus in an asymptomatic person is about the same as the level of virus in somebody who has symptoms,” Fauci said. “So it’s like, oh my goodness, how do you address that?”

Meanwhile,the governor of Texas ordered the closing of all bars again and scaled back restaurant dining Friday in the biggest retreat yet amid a surge across the South and West that has sent the number of confirmed new coronavirus infections per day in the U.S. to an all-time high of 40,000 — higher even than during the deadliest stretch in April and May.

Republican Gov. Greg Abbott had pursued up to now one of the most aggressive reopening schedules of any state and had not only resisted calls to order the wearing of masks but had also refused until last week to let local governments take such measures.

“It is clear that the rise in cases is largely driven by certain types of activities, including Texans congregating in bars,” he said. “The actions in this executive order are essential to our mission to swiftly contain this virus and protect public health.”

Abbott joined the small but growing number of governors either backtracking or putting any further reopenings on hold. Some of the other worst-hit states, including Arizona, Florida and Arkansas, have Republican governors who have also resisted mask wearing and echoed President Donald Trump’s desire to quickly reopen the economy.

Amid the surge, the White House coronavirus task force, led by Vice President Pence, was scheduled to hold its first briefing in nearly two months on Friday afternoon. signaling the adminstration’s recognition that it cannot ignore the alarming increases.

Meanwhile, the number of confirmed new infections in the U.S. per day soared past the previous high of 36,400, set on April 24, during one of the deadliest stretches in the crisis so far, according to the count kept by Johns Hopkins University. The average number of new cases per day has risen about 60 percent over the past two weeks, according to an Associated Press analysis.

While the increase is believed to reflect, in part, greatly expanded testing, experts say there is ample evidence the virus is making a comeback, including rising deaths and hospitalizations in parts of the country, especially in the South and West.

Deaths from the coronavirus in the U.S. are down to around 600 per day, compared with about 2,200 in mid-April. Despite the rise in cases, some experts have expressed doubt that deaths will return to that level, because of advances in treatment and prevention and also because a large share of the new infections are in younger adults, who are more likely than older ones to survive.

The virus is blamed for 124,000 deaths in the U.S. and 2.4 million confirmed infections nationwide, by Johns Hopkins’ count. But U.S. health officials said the true number of Americans infected is about 20 million, or almost 10 times higher. Worldwide, the virus has claimed close to a half-million lives, according to Johns Hopkins.

In addition to scaling back restaurant capacity, Abbott shut down rafting operations and said any outdoor gatherings of more than 100 people will need approval from the local government. The move came as the number of patients at Texas hospitals statewide more than doubled in two weeks.

Texas reported more than 17,000 confirmed new cases in the past three days, with a record high of nearly 6,000 on Thursday. The day’s tally of over 4,700 hospitalizations was also a record.

On Thursday, Arizona put on hold any further efforts to reopen the economy, with Republican Gov. Doug Ducey saying the numbers “continue to go in the wrong direction.” Arizona reported over 3,000 additional infections Thursday, the fourth day in a week with an increase over that mark.

Nevada’s governor ordered the wearing of face masks in public, Las Vegas casinos included.

Elsewhere around the world, China moved closer to containing a fresh outbreak in Beijing. Another record daily increase in India pushed the caseload in the world’s second most populous nation toward half a million. And other countries with big populations like Indonesia, Pakistan and Mexico grappled with large numbers of infections and strained health care systems.

South Africa, which accounts for about half of the infections on the African continent with over 118,000, reported a record of nearly 6,600 new cases after loosening what had been one of the world’s strictest lockdowns earlier this month.

Italy, one of the hardest-hit European nations, battled to control an outbreak among Bulgarian seasonal crop pickers near Naples.

The governor of the southern Campania region insisted that the workers who live in an apartment complex with dozens of COVID-19 cases stay inside for just over two weeks, not even emerging for food — authorities will deliver groceries to them.

Material from the Associated Press was used in this story.

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