Trump said Covid-19 testing 'creates more cases.' We did the math

(HYACINTH EMPINADO/STAT)

For more than a month now, at campaign rallies, via tweets, and during television appearances, President Trump and the White House have been claiming that the U.S.' rise in Covid-19 cases is due to increased testing. But a new STAT analysis shows why that claim is wrong: In only seven states — including Michigan, Indiana, and Wisconsin — that saw increased Covid-19 cases from mid-May to mid-July can the rise be attributed to increased testing. In 26 of the other 33 states that have also seen a spike in numbers, such as Florida and Arizona, the case count rose because of increased prevalence of disease. Further proof that more testing does not equal more cases can be found in places such as New York, which nearly doubled its testing during those two months, but did not see a jump in cases. In fact, the Covid-19 case rate there dropped by 86%. Check out the full analysis from STAT's Sharon Begley here.

Here's what else is new with the pandemic:

Coming out of the weekend, here's where the numbers stand with Covid-19: There are now more than 14.4 million cases of the infection worldwide, and nearly 600,000 people have died. The U.S. continues to hold the record for the most number of cases, with nearly 3.8 million at last count and more than 140,000 deaths.
Executives from five drug companies leading the charge on Covid-19 vaccines are due to testify in front of a congressional panel tomorrow, and STAT's Helen Branswell and Damian Garde compiled a list of questions that they think the panel could pose, including about vaccine pricing and how companies will decide which countries will be first in line to get the vaccine.
Even as the pandemic worsens in the U.S., the Washington Post reports that the Trump administration is trying to block billions in funding to states for contact tracing and testing efforts. The White House is also trying to block a Republican-led effort to increase funding for the CDC and other federal agencies to respond to the pandemic.
The FDA on Saturday issued an emergency use authorization for the first Covid-19 test that pools samples from up to four individuals to determine whether the group is infected by SARS-CoV-2. As STAT's Andrew Joseph has previously reported, the idea of pooling samples could dramatically increase the number of people tested.