The CDC told Politico Stenzel's wait was simply a function of the fact that he arrived a day earlier than the agency had expected. "Due to CDC security requirements, he was not allowed on campus that night," the spokesperson said.

Gee, maybe a little urgency might have helped as the minutes ticked away on preventing the spread of a virus that's now beginning to bud nationwide. Naturally, once he gained access, Stenzel found issues such as evidence of lab contamination that may have played a role in tainting the test kits and delaying their delivery.

Ultimately, the delays resulted in a failure to administer the tests quickly to a wider group of people in order to promote early detection of the virus and perhaps prevent its spread. "CDC initially limited testing to people who had recently traveled to China or had close contact with a confirmed case and were also symptomatic," writes Politico.