PEMBROKE PINES, FLA. (WSVN) - Researchers around the world continue to work to slow the spread of COVID-19, but to this point many warn that the United States is falling behind.

Florida International University Infectious Disease Specialist Aileen Marty is one of those saying the country is not doing enough to combat the spread of the virus.

“Lack of travel and keeping everybody in their homes was not enough in China,” Marty said. “To get it below one, they had to do the testing of every single person who had any level of symptoms, not just the severe and critical ones but even the mildest form.”

Patients in China and South Korea who tested positive were isolated from the public to contain the virus.

“Because we were late in the game, our country is having to scramble for individual parts of the test,” Marty said.

While the number of tests continues to rise, Marty fears that many are returning with false negatives.

“We haven’t been testing the way that we’re required to test, which is two upper respiratory and one lower respiratory sample,” Marty said. “Taking one upper respiratory sample alone is going to yield false negatives, so people who actually have the disease, show up as being clear.”

There is no cure or vaccine for coronavirus, but some patients have responded well to anti-malarial drugs.

While they’re not FDA approved for treating coronavirus patients, Marty said there have been promising results.

“It’s not a cure-all, but it does do one of the important things we need to get rid of this outbreak, which is not just treat the patients, which is super important but also shorten the duration of the infectious period,” Marty said.

Marty insists that the less time the virus has to spread, the less people will ultimately contract it.

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