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Six states led by a bipartisan group of governors are joining together in an effort to speed up coronavirus testing. As the nation's death count continues to rise above 150,000, the states said they will jointly purchase 3 million rapid antigen tests that can quickly detect the virus. Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan, the outgoing chair of the National Governors Association, said in a statement the multistate compact will address "severe testing shortages and delays" that have hamstrung the nation's response to the virus. In addition to Maryland, the group includes Virginia, Louisiana, Michigan, Ohio and Massachusetts. (McCammon, 8/4)

Frustrated by a nationwide testing backlog, the governors of six states took the unusual step of banding together on Tuesday to reduce the turnaround time for coronavirus test results from days to minutes. The agreement, by three Republican governors and three Democratic governors, was called the first interstate testing compact of its kind. The six states — Louisiana, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Ohio and Virginia — agreed to work with the Rockefeller Foundation and two U.S. manufacturers of rapid tests to buy three million tests. (Mervosh and Fernandez, 8/4)

A steep decline in California’s coronavirus infection rate announced this week by Gov. Gavin Newson may not be accurate, according to the state’s top public health official who said Tuesday that the state’s data system used to process COVID-19 test results is marred with technical issues. The problems have caused delays in analyzing test results and cast doubt on Newsom’s announcement Monday of a 21.2% decline in the seven-day average rate for positive infections compared with the average from the week before. (Shalby, 8/4)

As the Trump administration's coronavirus testing czar, Admiral Brett Giroir has repeatedly said the federal government is doing everything possible to address the country's unmet demand for tests and timelier results. "If there is a stone that needs to be turned that is left unturned," Giroir said on CNN's "State of the Union" on July 26, "you tell me what it is." (Devine, Griffin and Bronstein, 8/4)

A hospital on the summer tourism hub of Bar Harbor, Maine, says out-of-state visitors have brought the novel coronavirus to the island, and now the hospital is collaborating with state officials to expand contact tracing. The Portland Press Herald on Monday reported that Mount Desert Island Hospital physicians estimated that at least 35 out-of-staters carrying the virus had been on the island this summer. (Andersen, 8/4)

Kaiser Health News and Politifact HealthCheck: Could Labs That Test Livestock Ease COVID Testing Backlog For People? Well … Maybe. 

In a heated exchange late last month on CNN’s State of the Union, host Jake Tapper pressed Adm. Brett Giroir, the Health and Human Services assistant secretary who oversees COVID testing efforts for the Trump administration, on why the government isn’t requiring commercial labs to increase testing capacity in order to speed turnaround time. Giroir’s response described a series of steps — some unusual — being taken by the federal government. One focus was on the role veterinary labs, including those with special certification, could play in helping to build capacity. “Five veterinary labs have their CLIA certification to officially test human patients,” he said. “There are a lot of labs who are doing surveillance testing that don’t need the CLIA certification.” (Appleby, 8/5)

When Honu Management Group pitched itself to run a major coronavirus testing site for the city and county of Dallas, the company listed impressive experience. Testing for a national healthcare company. Working with the Indian Health Service. Even gaining White House approval for its testing program. The problem: One reference said Honu overstated the scope of its work. A South Dakota tribe said it used the company’s tests and the results were unreliable. And any stamp of White House approval seems to have never materialized. (Hacker and Morris, 8/4)

After a false positive Covid-19 test put Matthew Stafford, quarterback for the Detroit Lions, on the NFL's Injured Reserve/Covid list, life has been terrible. And his wife blames the NFL. That's according to an Instagram post made by Kelly Stafford, the quarterback's wife, who called the past four days following the false positive "somewhat of a nightmare." (Asmelash, 8/4)