[marvin4242]

A long but great read on various testing methods, strengths and shortcoming, why test results are taking so long in the US, how having tests that are so delayed are worthless and information about new tests on the horizon that can be run at home. Also it discusses various pooling and group testing strategies that if deployed would allow daily testing at nursing home for staff and testing at classroom level allowing a class to be sent home on a positive as a group while maintaining privacy.

My personal conclusions: first the US has failed because there has been no centralized strategy. As article explains free market is not capable of solving these kinds of challenges as cost is too high without a centralized approach. Second is how much innovation and smarts is being applied in the US at the research and corporate level, but it is again hampered by a intelligent central approach (for example reducing required accuracy rates for rapid tests). Third is there are a lot of testing approaches that are scaling up that can maybe reverse our biggest error: blinding ourselves by not supporting then intentionally hampering testing. These solutions are varied and can be run at medical facilities, or even workplaces daily. If we had this capability we could resume a much more normal life while effectively containing the virus.

I guess my takeaway is things are about to improve over the next six months due to testing and vaccines, in spite of our national level failures. It simply blows my mind on why we think that failing to rise to this challenge was ok. One example: declaring a war time level emergency effort would have eliminated all the reagent shortages as there are resources to make them but no supply chains. So private companies were unable or unwilling to take that on without a national declaration.

https://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2020/08/how-to-test-every-american-for-covid-19-every-day/615217/?utm_source=digg

[xyzcf]

first the US has failed because there has been no centralized strategy

I hear many people say "I don't want the government "controlling" my health care and then the government taking away the collection of data from CDC and transferring it to the White House:

“Historically, C.D.C. has been the place where public health data has been sent, and this raises questions about not just access for researchers but access for reporters, access for the public to try to better understand what is happening with the outbreak," said Jen Kates, the director of global health and H.I.V. policy with the nonpartisan Kaiser Family Foundation."
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/07/14/us/politics/trump-cdc-coronavirus.html

The CDC is the gold standard worldwide for infectious diseases. They have the expertise ....and are consulted worldwide for their assistance in controlling infectious diseases.

For me, this was purely a political move and I suspect a way to mislead the public of the gravity of the situation by "hiding" the numbers.

I sit here thinking about the number of people who have died needlessly and continue to die needlessly, and watch as other countries successfully implement tried and true public health measures to contain the virus.

The governor of Colorado has negotiated with a private lab and set up testing facilities so that results are available in 48 hours..I spoke to some nursing colleagues yesterday in Canada, test results there are available in 24 hours. In the US, people are waiting 14 days and more....

Canada does have a centralized system to deal with issues relating to public health and it works. It worked during SARS and it is working now. The leaders accept what the experts advise, and the whole country is on one page and it works.

[trusting]

I have wondered about the variance in testing results and how long it takes.  My son got a test through Kaiser and had the results in less than 24 hours.  If he had gone to one of the "protest" testing sites (he had gone to a protest),  it would have taken a few days.

[Thunder]

I know a few people who got tested in 2 different states (MN and Idaho) and got the results within 2/3 days.

Why is there such a difference between the states?  Funding??  Do some states have to send the tests out?

[marvin4242]

First because there is no federal response it is state by state, how much money, how seriously testing is taken. In fact sone stats have slowed down testing in purpose after the Presidents urging in order to make the numbers look better. Obviously this has tragic public health consequences and is purely political. It horrifies public health officials.

For example Maryland bought tons of tests in the early days from South Korea and used them because of lack of Federal response. Some states are cutting desks for testing, but we have created a nightmare scenario where states are competing with each other. We are doing this so badly.

As for vaccines two are in phase 3 and may be ready in 2-3 months. Early results are positive. Then it has to be mass produced and distributed. Here it will depend on each health care provider while in countries with national health there will be one single source and provided instantly for free.

 

[OldPilot]

Good News

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D5Z6wdu1eI0

for herd immunity.

[Milly]

Here, we must wear masks in the supermarkets. It's been like this since March. They won't let us in if we don't wear one. They will make us leave if we don't comply. When Covid rules came into place, the police enforced it by checking people, stopping cars, and by handing out stiff fines. It's a nuisance, it's a drag, but it works. At least that's how we feel about it.

And just the other day, discos were closed again, and masks must be worn in public again (had been stopped a couple of months ago) from 6pm to 6 am. This is because the contagion numbers have risen lately although deaths have not. We don't like it since as others have said, the masks are hot and itchy but they seem to work. In fact here, there are no covid clusters connected to public transport where you can not get on without a mask. That really helped us understand how effective this annoying method is.

[Mitzpah]

Good News

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D5Z6wdu1eI0

for herd immunity.

Excellent news and easy to understand!

[trusting]

Thanks for posting that video, OP. Definitely worth the watch.  I thought he did such a good job explaining the body's immune response in an easy-to-understand way.  And of course, the studies he referenced also give such hope.  I wish there was more information like this circulating in mainstream media.

How are you feeling, OP?  Are you still dealing with lasting effects from the illness?

[xyzcf]

I wish there was more information like this circulating in mainstream media.

I do think that information is out there, especially if you look at different news sources. I liked the video and the three studies all are saying the same thing, but Dr. Campbell does say that the studies have not been peer reviewed yet.

I am not surprised that there is a good immune response, that is true for many other infectious diseases.It does look good that a vaccine will also give a good immune response...yet the problem I'm afraid is going to be getting people to get the vaccine.

We have come a long way in understanding how to prevent transmission and decrease the spread of the virus as well as how to treat it. I would really like to see  better testing and contract tracing.....the numbers in Colorado have been pretty stable, 3 down to 2.71 since Aug 6 but in reality, this is a very short period of time and many things are still operating with limited numbers of people.

We do see that when social distancing measures are relaxed, that the numbers shoot up pretty quickly but that will also get better as more people develop immunity to it.

Here's more from The Chicago Tribune:

https://www.chicagotribune.com/coronavirus/ct-nw-nyt-covid-immunity-mild-infections-20200817-hvv4tiiu5feklclx47bc74el34-story.html?fbclid=IwAR3RumTzu6ladWzJB9-smBhYXU0DkKezvWuDjuW8vDsNUZv1N_nrPEfIzM0