Not enough tests are available for COVID-19 across the United States, including in Nebraska.

On that point, seemingly all officials agree, regardless of who is judged to carry the blame.

Most testing is limited to people who show symptoms of the illness caused by the coronavirus who are deemed to be at high risk of serious complications or who have already been hospitalized.

Some diagnoses are made on symptoms and close proximity to a confirmed case. In other cases, patients are told they likely have the virus and are told to follow the appropriate protocols.

Most people with COVID-19 experience mild symptoms and recover. There’s no cure or treatment, so medical intervention is only addressing symptoms and medical conditions they trigger.

That’s unlike the flu, where a patient can receive antiviral drugs to fight an infection and where a vaccine is available to reduce the risk of infection, which is particularly important for vulnerable populations. The flu has already killed 40 people this season in Nebraska, which compares to zero deaths in the state attributed to COVID-19 as of Tuesday.

Increased testing would help to slow the spread of the virus by identifying more people who were in close contact and should subject themselves to stricter quarantine measures, going beyond the social distancing encouraged for all Nebraska residents.

Dr. Gary Anthone, the state’s chief medical officer, said the top priority for increased testing is to make it available to health care workers, first responders and caretakers, so they know when it is safe to return to work.

“The real reason for testing is to keep people in the workforce,” Anthone said last Friday.

Dr. Jeffrey Gold, chancellor of the University of Nebraska Medical Center, said last Sunday that he expects to see increased testing capacity in the near future.

However, he said a recently announced rapid test cannot be scaled, so it would benefit emergency departments but not set the table for mass testing.

Maintaining a safe, 6-foot distance from others is much more important than testing, he said.

“We don’t want to test the worried well,” Gold said. “We must reserve the tests for people with specific exposure, those at high-risk and the elderly.”

Anthone said anyone who has symptoms – which can include a fever, cough, fatigue, sore throat or difficulty breathing – should just stay home, get better and add 72 hours if they reach the end of their 14-day self-quarantine.

“At a certain point you have to ask yourself: Why do we even test anymore?” Anthone said.

Testing is being performed at the Nebraska Public Health Lab and UNMC, although private labs also are testing some cases now.

Pete Iwen, director of the Nebraska Public Health Lab, said Wednesday in a UNMC interview that “we are still weeks to months away” from being able to test anyone who wants a test.

A clinic had planned to start a drive-through service in Omaha with COVID-19 screening, but Omaha Mayor Jean Stothert said they didn’t coordinate with city officials. A clinic did open in Lincoln that is by appointment and referal only. Clinics in other cities have resulted in long lines, traffic and frustrated patients who wrongly expected to be tested for the virus.

“The last thing I want to do is mislead our public,” Stothert said.