在野党议员川内博史从北海道地方议员处得到消息：原本在铃木直道知事领导下积极在全道开展的PCR检测，受到了厚劳省特派专家的妨碍。厚劳省的3人专家组进入道应对总部“指导”工作后，过度强调新基本方针中检测的超严条件，敦促道职员和保健所职员“不可过多检测”。此前，北海道疑似患者只要满足连续发热4日等基本条件，即可接受检测，但自3名专家进驻以来，非重症患者已无法得到检测，即便主治医生上报，也会遭到拒绝。北海道目前已确诊感染人数达到54人，全国最多，其原因正是转为重症前即允许检测。质询议员怀疑，厚劳省专家组控制检测数量，目的在于减缓确诊人数涨势。然而这一行为“本末倒置”，防疫工作本应是扩充检测体制，尽早发现阳性患者，避免重症化。

Public health officials have said that Italy contributed to fears of an epidemic in Europe with its zealousness in testing for the virus and quickly reporting the number that came back positive from local regions.

A World Health Organization official advising the Italian government, Walter Ricciardi, said test results must be certified at the national level before they are considered official and publicly reported. Without confirmation from Italy's National Institutes of Health, "cases that emerge from the regions are still considered suspect and unconfirmed,” Ricciardi said.

It remains to be seen whether or how the higher-level review of positive tests changes Italy's case numbers. So far, none of the 282 cases analyzed by the national health institute were rejected as false positives, and Italian authorities said they suspect that almost all of the preliminary results will be confirmed, too.

Italian health officials are making another change in their testing protocols that may slow the growth of new case numbers. The country expects to limit coronavirus testing to at-risk people showing symptoms of COVID-19, said Giuseppe Ippolito, scientific director at Italy’s National Institute for Infectious Diseases.