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What scares me the most about this coronavirus are infected people testing negative multiple days in a row only to test positive later. There are two explanatio

What scares me the most about this coronavirus are infected people testing negative multiple days in a row only to test positive later. There are two explanations: 1. The diagnostic accuracy of the current tests is too low or 2. Some people do not clear the virus, their symptoms simply resolve, but this leaves open the potential for a flare-up later in life. Either scenario is bad, and we simply don't have enough information about the virus yet. Given how little is currently known about the virus, I think drastic steps including quarantining US cities are warranted. So far, only China appears to have implemented a successful quarantine. Hell, the Diamond Princess was a disaster, showing how hard it is to contain the virus. I think as a society we need to accept drastic measures to stop the spread of the virus. This will slow the spread of the virus, buying us time to develop countermeasures like vaccines.

bcrosby95 7y ago
AFAIK there are different tests with varying accuracies. Those with low accuracy tend to be ran multiple times to help. Despite having to run multiple tests, capacity for these low accuracy tests is much higher than the tests the CDC attempted to distribute, and these are the types of tests countries with a huge number already tested have tended to use. Testing by local hospitals and universities in the USA has also been held up by FDA regulations that only recently (last week) were waived. The USA is behind this thing by a long shot. We are thinking about stuff now that we should have thought about at least a month ago. Another example is the federal government contemplating covering tests when insurance won't. The time to contemplate this was months ago, not today. This should have been decided, at the very latest, weeks ago so it could be rolled out at the proper time.
t-writescode 7y ago
> I think drastic steps including quarantining US cities are warranted Do you expect whole cities, such as Seattle and San Francisco to be able to survive when people are not allowed to go to work? People such as grocery store workers, restaurant employees, Uber drivers, and so on? Who will pay their rent? The United States, at present, is not prepared, at all, for handling a month-long quarantine of any major city. The poor people in that city will suffer, hard, and the fall out will be worse than the 2% death rate in those cities.
- jobigoud 7y ago
  I think the 2% death rate is only when your healthcare system isn't completely overwhelmed and you have enough mechanical ventilators for the ~20% of cases that need them.
rabboRubble 7y ago
I read the other day that there was a difference in virus shedding throughout the body. Orally, no virus might be shedding for an oral swab to come up positive, but the same patient might test positive with anal swabs taken the same time.

bcrosby95 7y ago

AFAIK there are different tests with varying accuracies. Those with low accuracy tend to be ran multiple times to help. Despite having to run multiple tests, capacity for these low accuracy tests is much higher than the tests the CDC attempted to distribute, and these are the types of tests countries with a huge number already tested have tended to use. Testing by local hospitals and universities in the USA has also been held up by FDA regulations that only recently (last week) were waived. The USA is behind this thing by a long shot. We are thinking about stuff now that we should have thought about at least a month ago. Another example is the federal government contemplating covering tests when insurance won't. The time to contemplate this was months ago, not today. This should have been decided, at the very latest, weeks ago so it could be rolled out at the proper time.

t-writescode 7y ago

> I think drastic steps including quarantining US cities are warranted Do you expect whole cities, such as Seattle and San Francisco to be able to survive when people are not allowed to go to work? People such as grocery store workers, restaurant employees, Uber drivers, and so on? Who will pay their rent? The United States, at present, is not prepared, at all, for handling a month-long quarantine of any major city. The poor people in that city will suffer, hard, and the fall out will be worse than the 2% death rate in those cities.

jobigoud 7y ago
I think the 2% death rate is only when your healthcare system isn't completely overwhelmed and you have enough mechanical ventilators for the ~20% of cases that need them.

rabboRubble 7y ago

I read the other day that there was a difference in virus shedding throughout the body. Orally, no virus might be shedding for an oral swab to come up positive, but the same patient might test positive with anal swabs taken the same time.