U.S. prepares push to reduce ‘unnecessary’ COVID-19 testing: official

July 16 (Reuters) – The United States is preparing to issue guidance on reducing “unnecessary” testing for COVID-19 as it works to reduce turnaround times for tests, a senior U.S. health official said on Thursday.

Details of the guidance are still being hammered out but it would be aimed partly at discouraging COVID-19 patients who have completed home quarantine from getting retested before returning to work or school, said Brett Giroir, assistant secretary for health at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

Speaking on a call with reporters, he said such unnecessary tests were “clogging up the system.” (Reporting by Dania Nadeem and Carl O’Donnell; Editing by Tom Brown)