To determine how testing protocols for COVID-19 vary across the United States, to all 50 states, New York City, and Washington, D.C. The requests were sent to health departments the week of March 16 and were identical. The database below contains responses we have received, as well as publicly available guidance from some jurisdictions. we sent requests under public records laws We categorized the responses by the most common ways states chose to prioritize testing. Many states note specific symptomatic requirements, like fever and respiratory problems. Occupation is also mentioned in many guidance documents, with priority often given to health care workers and first responders. Several states also prioritize certain vulnerable populations for testing, such as the elderly and residents of prisons and homeless shelters. Links to the complete documents are included in the tables and also . available on DocumentCloud The documents largely provide insight into government-operated testing. Privately run testing entities aren’t necessarily bound by the same criteria. Guidance for testing has been shifting as the coronavirus spreads. As more people are infected, and available testing resources evolve, states have and may continue to alter their guidance. This information is complete as of April 17, 2020. We will continue updating our data as we receive responses to our requests. What States Do We Have Data For? References Alaska Document URL: 3/21/2020 Arkansas Document URL: Updated Georgia Document URL: Updated Idaho Document URL: 3/18/2020 Illinois Document URL: Updated Louisiana Document URL: 3/19/2020 Massachusetts Document URL: 4/2/2020 Michigan Document URLs: , 3/5/2020 3/18/2020 Missouri Document URL: 3/22/2020 Nevada Document URL: Updated New Jersey Document URL: 3/18/2020 New York: New York City Document URL: 3/20/2020 North Carolina Document URL: 3/29/2020 Ohio Document URL: 3/20/2020 Oklahoma Document URL: 2/26/2020 Oregon Document URL: 3/16/2020 Rhode Island Document URL: 3/17/2020 South Carolina Document URL: 3/29/2020 Texas Document URL: 3/11/2020 Utah Document URL: 3/12/2020 Vermont Document URL: 3/14/2020 Washington, D.C. Document URL: 4/21/2020 Wisconsin Document URL: 3/17/2020 Credits Originally published as " How We Analyzed States’ Coronavirus Testing Plans " with the Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0) license.

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How Pandemic Testing Protocols Vary Across The USA

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