World Health Organization says 'test, test, test' for coronavirus

The World Health Organization on Monday called on all countries to ramp up their testing programs as the best way to slow the advance of the coronavirus pandemic. In the United States, the Trump administration has come under fire from critics for what they say has been a slow gearing up of testing for the new virus. U.S. Vice President Mike Pence promised on Sunday that Americans would have access in the days ahead to more than 2,000 laboratories capable of processing tests. Without testing, cases could not be isolated and the chain of infection would not be broken, the WHO Director General said.

The strategy to contain the disease, by finding people with infections and rapidly isolating them, was still the best approach, the WHO chief said. It had shown positive effects in China, South Korea and Singapore, he added. Meanwhile the WHO Director General also said he was cheered by the response from governments coming forward with funding to fight the outbreak.