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Massive testing can help reopen economy
providence journal ^ | Apr 3, 2020 | Patrice Milos

Posted on 04/04/2020 8:40:35 AM PDT by rintintin

In the face of today’s global health pandemic, we are experiencing a time of tremendous uncertainty. As the former CEO of a molecular diagnostic laboratory in Cambridge, Massachusetts, I believe advanced diagnostic technologies are ready to address the challenges we face.

Today, Germany is testing between 360,000 to 500,000 citizens for viral infection weekly — tracking the spread of the coronavirus early. This enables self-quarantine for those who test positive and allows healthy individuals to move back to society.

The German Health Ministry is investing 500 million euros to create a database to link hospitals with labs to provide information. In April, they will begin testing for viral immunity — at a scale of 100,000 people a week.

Here, U.S. communities are still asking, “Who is COVID-19 free? Who has antibodies to protect against the virus?”

These two questions must be answered to move the country past our current crisis. As newspapers report, federal and state public health agencies are struggling to move community testing forward.

Unlike Germany, our federal and state governments have spent the last decade spending on other things than meeting the needs of critically ill patients and setting up comprehensive testing programs.

But, as we have seen over the last few weeks, the federal Food and Drug Administration and Centers for Medicare and Medicaid are able to evaluate and approve new diagnostic testing technologies. These new technologies will produce testing results on-site in less than an hour. Working with these latest diagnostic technologies, we should consider another path forward.

(Excerpt) Read more at providencejournal.com ...


TOPICS: Business/Economy; Culture/Society; Government
KEYWORDS: communityspread; coronavirus; covid19; wuhansarscov2
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To: rintintin

We have heard some say “but testing of the whole population will be expensive and is not perfect because of false negatives ... “.

Expensive and imperfect. OK. So is shutting down an entire country. How expensive? $2T expensive?


21 posted on 04/04/2020 9:00:30 AM PDT by plain talk
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To: FreedomNotSafety

Or Iceland?


22 posted on 04/04/2020 9:00:31 AM PDT by rintintin (qu)
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To: rintintin
Right now we’re all living under house arrest, or like WWII internees, because we don’t know who does or doesn’t have the virus. I guess you call that “freedom”?

Who is “we?”

I’m not living under house arrest. Are you?

23 posted on 04/04/2020 9:01:09 AM PDT by Alberta's Child (And somewhere in the darkness ... the gambler, he broke even.)
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To: Steely Tom

I’ve got 2 drive thru testing spots near me and traffic is jammed there every hour they are open. Meanwhile other parts of the country complain they still can’t get tested. 350 million antibody blood tests, even if they could be done logistically, would never get done before the virus burns out.


24 posted on 04/04/2020 9:01:12 AM PDT by Buckeye McFrog (Patrick Henry would have been an anti-vaxxer)
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To: Alberta's Child

I’m not living under house arrest. Are you?

Effectively, yes. I’m in a shutdown state and an eve stricter shutdown county.

Or check what’s happening in Colorado


25 posted on 04/04/2020 9:04:44 AM PDT by rintintin (qu)
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To: Buckeye McFrog

Yup. How about “ mass medication” instead of testing?


26 posted on 04/04/2020 9:05:03 AM PDT by max americana (Fired ONE libtard at work at every election since 2008 because I enjoy them crying)
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To: rintintin

Its been reported that Germany is fudging their numbers

If you had a heart condition and ChinaVirus, and you passed, you died from the heart condition....

Merkel is doing this to make herself look like some sort of smart leader, that she isn’t.


27 posted on 04/04/2020 9:05:36 AM PDT by Trump.Deplorable
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To: rintintin

Oh, and by the way, we were looking at the DNA from your test, the police would like to talk to you.


28 posted on 04/04/2020 9:08:39 AM PDT by Yogafist
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To: rintintin

“...our federal and state governments have spent the last decade spending on other things than meeting the needs of critically ill patients and setting up comprehensive testing programs.”

Well, who was in charge of everything 10 years ago? Obama had no interest in the welfare of this country, certainly not in the welfare of our most vulnerable citizens, the elderly and disadvantaged and wounded.

Also Germany is most similar in size to half the size of Texas or economically slightly bigger than CA, NOT the USA.

The Citizens of the USA are A LOT HARDER TO DICTATE ANYTHING TO THAN A COUNTRY ALREADY EMOTIONALLY AND PHYSICALLY DAMAGED SUCH AS GERMANY.

Do not be so ready to criticize the US vs much smaller city/states.


29 posted on 04/04/2020 9:09:06 AM PDT by Bodega (we are developing less and less common sense...world wide)
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To: Trump.Deplorable

Fudging goes both ways. With all those 18 billion dying of the flu each year... How often to you see “the flu” on a death certificate?


30 posted on 04/04/2020 9:09:30 AM PDT by proust (Justice delayed is injustice.)
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To: rintintin

Why do you think those people would be markedly better than our best epidemiologist, doctors, etc.?


31 posted on 04/04/2020 9:10:08 AM PDT by Bodega (we are developing less and less common sense...world wide)
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To: rintintin; Lazamataz
>> “ Unlike Germany, our federal and state governments have spent the last decade spending on other things than meeting the needs of critically ill patients and setting up comprehensive testing programs.”

Search at CDC.gov for “Climate Change”. Currently returns 4877 hits.

Search at CDC.gov for Diversity. Currently returns 16023 hits

Search at CDC.gov for Transgender. Currently returns 1642 hits

Would anyone here care to attempt to convince me any of this has anything to do with the core mission of the Centers for Disease Control? In fact, what this represents is a hijacking of the CDC for political purposes. And those who performed this hijacking need to be called to account.

32 posted on 04/04/2020 9:11:03 AM PDT by FreedomPoster (Islam delenda est)
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To: null and void

An important part of how we got here in my previous post.


33 posted on 04/04/2020 9:11:55 AM PDT by FreedomPoster (Islam delenda est)
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To: proust

Well in New York, if you get shot and pass and the coroner tests you for ChinaVirus, and you were positive, you count as a ChinaVirus victim

I agree, it goes both ways.

I think the counts are way off either way because were are only calculating the extremes.


34 posted on 04/04/2020 9:12:46 AM PDT by Trump.Deplorable
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To: rintintin
I’m in a “shutdown” state, too. And I haven’t obeyed any orders my stupid governor has issued.

There are two kinds of people in this world, pal. There are those who subject themselves to government orders ... and there are Americans. Which kind are you?

35 posted on 04/04/2020 9:15:16 AM PDT by Alberta's Child (And somewhere in the darkness ... the gambler, he broke even.)
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To: rintintin

Them too!


36 posted on 04/04/2020 9:20:29 AM PDT by FreedomNotSafety
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To: Buckeye McFrog

This virus is popping up in places it’s past it’s peak and doesn’t seem to be susceptible to warmer temps. This wave caught us with out pants down (hence the massive lockdown mitigation) but we MUST be prepared for the next flair up (lockdown of susceptibles and ill, hospital preparedness, and widescale testing and masks for everyone in public until a vax and herd immunity are achieved).


37 posted on 04/04/2020 9:21:39 AM PDT by Moonlighter
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To: rintintin

Trump has shown ZERO interest in conducting a budget war. He is inclined to go bigly on the budget. Budgets originate in the House and Trump seems to be a constitutional president.


38 posted on 04/04/2020 9:23:06 AM PDT by FreedomNotSafety
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To: Yogafist

Until this is under control, there’s going to have to be some kind of at home daily testing or manner of doing so upon entering airplanes, work, etc. Or mandatory masks outside the home.


39 posted on 04/04/2020 9:24:59 AM PDT by Moonlighter
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To: Yogafist
OK, I’m a little confused about how we let people who test negative go back to work. If I test negative today, it doesn’t mean I will test negative tomorrow. Do I have to get tested every day? And how many times per day?

That's easy. You'll get tested every day until they get a false positive (at least 1 out of 100 tests, probably more). Then you will be put under house arrest.

40 posted on 04/04/2020 9:25:34 AM PDT by palmer (Democracy Dies Six Ways to Sunday)
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