Why is testing such a big deal?
A lot of people (including politicians) don’t really understand why testing for Covid-19 is such a big deal.
I am going to try and break it down and make it easier to understand.
If people are tested for the corona virus whether they have symptoms or not, we can stop the spread of the disease. Let’s say we put thousands of people who have lost their employment to work testing everyone. One of two things would happen the person tested would either be positive or negative.
The positive people would be quarantined for two weeks and their contacts would be traced and managed likewise and everyone else could go back to work. The sick would be taken care of, the positives would be managed and the whole thing would be over within a month.
Sounds easy doesn’t it? But of course there are some problems. Two that spring immediately to mind:
One: lying politicians and two: there are not enough tests oh, and three: politicians that lie about one and two.
On February 28th 2020 the president said the virus would probably disappear “like a miracle”.
On March 6th 2020, he said that “anybody who wants a test can have one”
A bold faced and deliberate lie.
Yesterday it was cranked up a notch. The president suggested we could be “getting close” to doing 5 million tests a day.
A Harvard study published last week said the country needs to be able to do 5 million tests a day by June and 20 million a day by late July, for the country to safely open up.
Meanwhile, Admiral Brett Giroir, assistant secretary of health in charge of the government’s testing response (AKA the testing Czar) said yesterday and I quote “there is absolutely no way on earth or any other planet” that we can do 5 million tests a day. In fact the total number of tests that have been done in the US this year is only 5.7 million. He said by next month we might be able to do 8 million tests per month.
He says the Harvard figure is an “Ivory Tower unreasonable benchmark” that could "not be supported by current technology".
So far, the maximum number of tests conducted in a single day is 314,182 but when Donald Trump said yesterday the US was getting close to the 5 million mark he did not explain how the1500% increase per day was going to happen!
It is clear that testing is a crucial element in any plan for people to return to their normal lives. Shouldn’t that be where we are focusing most of our energy? Besides the truth, that is.
Only 2% of the population has been tested so far. Perhaps you can be reassured by Mike Pence bragging that as vice president he gets tested for corona virus almost daily so he doesn’t need to wear a mask.
The president has refused to compel companies to make tests here in the US instead the car companies are making ventilators. More about that in a later blog.
The swabs for the tests so far have come from China and Italy but we do our best to tick them both off.
For now, please be clear, smart testing which means targeted screening and contact tracing is the only way we are going to avoid yet another long and painful lockdown.
By the way, US deaths from corona have now exceeded 60,000. Sad to think maybe we will actually hit 100,000 after all. The truth could set us free!
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