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Video: Gov. Andrew Cuomo discusses preparations for coronavirus
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Health officials in New York are pushing for federal government approvals to start testing for the coronavirus at state and New York City labs.

Currently, health agencies in New York are shipping out suspected coronavirus samples for testing conducted by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, or CDC. So far, 27 test results have come back negative and one case in New York City was pending Friday morning.

Gov. Andrew Cuomo has called on the federal government to authorize the state-run Wadsworth Center in Albany and the NYC Public Health Lab to test for the virus, allowing for expanded testing capacity and expedited test results.

“One of the issues we now have is it takes a couple of days to get the testing results back,” Cuomo said. “If we could accelerate that by doing testing in this state and the CDC allowed that it would be very helpful.”

New York state health officials have also independently worked to develop and validate a test using the Centers for Disease Control protocol. They are currently seeking Food and Drug Administration approval to start using that testing in New York and to provide testing for other Northeast states, if necessary, according to Cuomo’s office.

a screenshot of a computer: Kristen Pascal, a senior research and development specialist, working on a treatment for people exposed to the novel coronavirus outbreak that originated in China, views the open-source DNA sequence online, at Regeneron in Tarrytown, New York Feb. 10, 2020. The process involves injecting pseudo-coronavirus into genetically altered mice that produce human-like antibodies. © Tania Savayan/The Journal News Kristen Pascal, a senior research and development specialist, working on a treatment for people exposed to the novel coronavirus outbreak that originated in China, views the open-source DNA sequence online, at Regeneron in Tarrytown, New York Feb. 10, 2020. The process involves injecting pseudo-coronavirus into genetically altered mice that produce human-like antibodies.

New York City Health Commissioner Oxiris Barbot on Wednesday said the CDC identified issues with a prior local testing protocol it authorized for use by New York City labs.

“So, right now, there is a test that they are finalizing, and the very last step is what's limiting our ability to do that test here in the city,” she said at a news conference.

Mayor Bill de Blasio expanded on the reasons for local testing in state and city labs.

“These facilities are being under-utilized by the CDC. We've made this point now for weeks and weeks,” he said.

“And we would like the CDC to allow us to partner with them on finalizing that last step so that we can make that test widely available and get results as quickly as possible for New Yorkers.”

Further, Barbot noted on Thursday that the federal government expanded its criteria to test for the coronavirus, called COVID-19, to include travelers from Iran, Italy, Japan and South Korea, in addition to China.

The move came after health officials called to include more countries seeing surges in cases in the testing.

"As a result, we have now identified another person in New York City to test for the virus," Barbot said on Twitter.

Cuomo also addressed the push for local coronavirus testing during a Long Island News Radio interview with Jay Oliver on Friday morning.

"To be prepared, you have to mobilize multiple systems, right," Cuomo said.

He added: "Just start to run the videotape in your mind. People are coming in to the airport at JFK. They're coming from a place that may have the virus. You now have more countries that have the virus. So more people are coming in."

"How do you test that volume — which is an issue right now — does the CDC have to do all the tests in Washington? How do they handle that volume? I talked to the Vice President, look we can do the test. We have the sophistication, but step one is making sure you have the testing capacity."

There has been no decision yet from the federal government, Cuomo said, on giving the state more ability to test for coronavirus.

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David Robinson is the state health care reporter for the USA TODAY Network New York. He can be reached at drobinson@gannett.com and followed on Twitter: @DrobinsonLoHud

This article originally appeared on New York State Team: Coronavirus: Health officials push CDC for approval to test cases in New York state, NYC labs

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