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Jack Ma to send 500K coronavirus test kits, 1M face masks to US
- wollstonecraft 7y ago"Test kits" are just for sample collection. You still need throughput on a qPCR machine to get results.
- acoderhasnoname 7y ago"Face masks" are just for patients. You still need people to get virus.
- DarthGhandi 7y agoShouldn't there be hundreds of labs with these machines though? The United States government spends far more on healthcare than any other nation on Earth. That's not including private health costs. South Korea has the capacity to test 20,000 per day and has 1/6th the population.
- wollstonecraft 7y agoEvery PI at a major research university who does something related to genetics should have one. There are probably some logistics challenges in getting them all into facilities with the right biosafety level and competent technicians to run them.
- inferiorhuman 7y agoShouldn't there be hundreds of labs with these machines though? Yes. Roche just got FDA approval on a SARS-COV-2 test that will take four (4) hours that works with two of their (whatever you call the machine) models. Per Roche there are around 110 of those machines in the United States. Bloomberg had estimated throughput numbers and also indicated that Roche has tests that work with some of their other, slower equipment (that I assume is in the US as well). Mayo Clinic recently developed a 2 hour test. The limits on testing are, from my POV, entirely political at this point. https://www.npr.org/2020/03/13/815522836/u-s-coronavirus-testing-gets-a-breakthrough https://www.npr.org/2020/03/13/815522836/u-s-coronavirus-tes... https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2020-03-13/roche-gets-clearance-for-coronavirus-test-that-s-10-times-faster?srnd=premium https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2020-03-13/roche-get...
- Zhenya 7y agoWhy don't we just use a bunch of edisons. /s
- deleted 7y ago[deleted]
- cjhopman 7y agoHow does Korea have 15 minute tests (from when a sample is collected) and we're excited about a 2 hour or 4 hour one? I'm not being flippant, I imagine that whatever korea is doing they've been open about it and we know how to do manufacture everything and perform those 15 minute tests, but I imagine there must be some reason that we aren't doing them.
- inferiorhuman 7y agoHow does Korea have 15 minute tests They don't. The drive through stations send samples off to a lab that uses a 5–6 hour process. If memory serves, a Hong Kong company devised a 45 minute test otherwise in most places you're looking at hours not minutes. https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-51836898 https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-51836898
- 8note 7y agodoes money the US spends on healthcare do things other than line pockets?
- robomartin 7y agoThe most important factor isn't how quickly one can process the test (so long as it doesn't take an excessive amount of time) or how many, but rather how many false positives you get. The CDC, in a press conference, explained that tests in places like South Korea are producing 3% to 4% false positives. Our tests are in the 1% to 2% range. This difference in false positives can have massive consequences as infection spreads. Doubling your false positives could easily overwhelm the medical system. Which in turn, could increase fatality. And then there's the secondary effects, which Italy is sadly experiencing, as the medical system overloads doctors are having to choose who they simply let die. There are reports of stroke patients going without much attention in Italy because of precisely this issue. If hospitals can't take care of people because they are overloaded due to administering large numbers of tests with double the false positive outcomes, more people die. When things truly matter there is no substitute for quality and performance. Quantity and speed are not always the most important factors.
- James_Henry 7y agoThis isn't correct. You also need the right primers/probes for the specific virus and controls to ensure accuracy of the test.
- alephnan 7y agoThe limiting factor right now is the availability of approved labs to perform the test
- jerkstate 7y agoA big point of the Presidents address today was around relaxing regulations to help the response. So hopefully this will get sorted out.
- meritt 7y agoLet's not forget that retailers are making their parking lots available, Google has deployed 1,700 engineers to build a flowchart website, and the US is buying up oil reserves. I think this epidemic is pretty much solved, don't you?
- netsharc 7y agoI tried googling some keywords to see if Google would show me that site straight away, but didn't get anything in my 30 seconds of attempts. Is it because I'm in Europe? Got to love the oil reserves idea to help Saudi Arabia in its price war against Russia. Ah fuck, that's why he declared national emergency: so he can get 40 billion dollars to bail out the Saudis. That lady was so proud of her 6 node flow chart too. She was beaming when she took it out...
- meritt 7y agoNothing exists yet [1]. Verily (an Alphabet subsidiary but essentially "Google" for all intents and purposes) is working on a triage website with a limited focus on the Bay Area. Ultimately it's going to be a slightly more complex variant of "Do you have a fever?" with a map showing nearby testing locations when someone clicks yes. [1] https://www.businessinsider.com/google-coronavirus-screening-site-verily-trump-2020-3 https://www.businessinsider.com/google-coronavirus-screening...
- 7y ago
- jacobwilliamroy 7y agoWow. Chinese citizen sends humanitarian aid to the U.S. What a queer situation.
- fairenough42 7y agoOr a new normal? We'll see in the coming days and weeks how functional the US is.
- jacobwilliamroy 7y agoAs a U.S. citizen, I hope someone throws a benefit concert for us. That would be delicious.
- toxican 7y agoU.S.Aid
- jessaustin 7y agoNo, that's a CIA front. They've already got plenty of money. They just gave Juan Guaidó $656M. [0] [0] https://www.usaid.gov/news-information/press-releases/feb-6-2020-administrator-green-meets-interim-president-venezuela-juan-guaido https://www.usaid.gov/news-information/press-releases/feb-6-...
- grecy 7y agoI've often wondered how long it will be until other countries have to give the USA aid.
- deleted 7y ago[deleted]
- incompatible 7y agoSeems strange that anybody would feel the need, given how the US is one of the richest countries, trumpets it's own abilities endlessly, and has an official policy of "America first". I.e., it's surely capable of making its own virus test kits and face masks, if it could be bothered.
- _bxg1 7y agoSeems like a power move to me. Painting a picture for the world of struggling U.S. institutions needing a Chinese billionaire's help to weather a crisis. I'm not even sure it's incorrect.
- remarkEon 7y agoYeah, it's a reminder of where we shipped our industrial capacity (both real and human).
- deleted 7y ago[deleted]
- spectramax 7y agoJack Ma cannot be trusted. He swings high and low, doesn't know where the ball is. He once hit a Alibaba home run and thinks he is a hotshot. It's hard to trust Jack Ma with undertones of the CCP propaganda in this humanitarian aid. Elon and Jack Ma debates in Shanghai, just listen this guy talk: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f3lUEnMaiAU https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f3lUEnMaiAU Edit: I am not defending the United States. Just look at what our president said this afternoon. Couldn't even string a cohesive sentence together. If Jack Ma is genuine and wants to help - who knows? To me it feels like a huge power move as the OP said - it feels "correct" to me. This news is trending big time on Twitter.
- _bxg1 7y agoThat hardly seems like the point, does it?
- derision 7y agoNot the commenter you're replying to, but I think that's exactly the point actually
- spectramax 7y agoI think so, if we are talking about Jack Ma, don't you think?
- ghouse 7y agoBecause when our social contract with each other fails, we rely on the generosity of the wealthy few to step in to assist.
- tomohawk 7y agoOne of the reasons the US developed its own test was that the test that China was using had a 48% false negative rate. These are probably the same tests.
- deleted 7y ago[deleted]
- CitationAskBot 7y agocitation needed. Also, the US CDC could have used the German tests but instead pushed forward on making their own.
- rannn 7y agoYeah. The one CDC developed was faulty as well. That's why China is doing multiple tests on patients. As well as doing CT scans widely. https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2020-02-13/china-coronavirus-cases-jump-after-counting-method-revision https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2020-02-13/china-cor... US is just wasting time, period.
- tomohawk 7y agoYes, CDC flubbed the test, probably because theirs was a 3 part test. They also ordered that other labs wait for the CDC test instead of making their own. However, any test used had to pass FDA muster at that time, and a test with a 48% false negative rate likely would not. The CDC is probably not the most agile organization, but I'm hoping that they will scale.
- droithomme 7y agoChances are high US will refuse to permit the testing kits to be used, then plod along with a few tests a day saying nothing else can be done.
- TrumpMyGuns 7y agono, that's what you want to happen so you can cry about trump some more.
- brrrrr1 7y agothe day the us needs aid from foreign countries has come. i pray for the many poor in that country that lack access to even basic healthcare. let us know where we can donate money to help american families in need, and pray the us wont invade another country to fight the virus.
- sandov 7y agoThe guy is either a complete idiot [1] or pretends to be one. I wouldn't over-analyze his actions too much. [1] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aHGd6LqAVzw https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aHGd6LqAVzw
- knzhou 7y agoYes, he's a native Chinese speaker whose English is clumsy and ineloquent. Guess how native English speakers sound when they're trying to speak Chinese?
- nostromo 7y agoIt wasn’t a language barrier issue though. And his English isn’t clumsy. It's that the actual content of what he said was ridiculous. It reminded me of the kind of BS Adam Neumann would say.
- sandov 7y agoNo. He makes himself understood quite well. It's just that what he says is stupid.
- jmknoll 7y agoFor what it’s worth, Jack Ma has a degree in English and taught English at a Chinese university. Chinese unis don’t have the best reputation, but I would expect him to be able to speak the language decently well at least.
- justicezyx 7y agoWell you are not his audience. Jack Ma knows very well what is AI and all such things. You can look at Alibaba Group's hiring frenzy for AI talents as a signal. In the end, Jack wants to be an approachable power figure to common (Chinese) people. He shows up in Alibaba's annual corp party wearing weird dresses and sing in front of 100k+ live audience. People call him the "Daddy Ma" in reference to his influence on their buying activities online. He behaves in this fashion, which the so-called philosophy (or Daoism/Zen-like thinking) trumps the hard reasoning. That gives him an aura of an elevated figure above scientists, engineers, and alike. The point is, powerful people listen to each other because of the power they wield. Must has to listen to Jack, because Jack can influence the Chinese government in a much more effective way than himself. If it was an actual AI expert on that stage, Must probably wont show much interests in that discussion anyway...
- jorblumesea 7y agoPolitical. The US doesn't need test kits and masks, it needs approval for labs and cutting bureaucratic red tape.
- yadongwen 7y agoPretty sure in a couple of weeks US will need masks and other equipment. China very likely is the biggest producer of masks and as the number of new cases drops to near zero they have the extra capacity to donate to the rest of world.
- zeroone101 7y agoThe issue isn't "test kits". Its labs to run the tests. It seems like the CDC and state governments are addressing that. Not really sure what this is trying to solve.
- woofie11 7y agoThank you. That's what I gotta say. Thank you. I hate all the cynics and conspiracy theories here. It's a generous move, and deeply appreciated. Jack didn't spend that much money to be a douchebag. He spent it because this will save countless lives.
- deleted 7y ago[deleted]
- mehrdadn 7y agoYeah, honestly. Even as someone who can be cynical about things, I still think this is very much kind and appreciated. Meanwhile I know others who say it's political and means pretty much nothing... I just don't know how to reply.
- adventured 7y agoIt's clearly no more political than the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation directing funds & other resources to assist China (and Asia broadly) the other direction, for which Xi personally thanked Bill [1]. China has an enormous amount of wealth and production capacity, anything they can help out with is a positive. As they bring their outbreak under control, they'll have dramatic spare capacity around test kits and medical supplies, that can benefit the rest of the world. [1] http://www.xinhuanet.com/english/2020-02/22/c_138807761.htm http://www.xinhuanet.com/english/2020-02/22/c_138807761.htm
- alisonatwork 7y agoOf course it's more political than anything Bill and Melinda are doing. Jack Ma is a member of the CPC. The CPC is the sole organ of power in China. Currently they are going to great lengths to try to make everyone around the world forget that they are the ones who caused this pandemic in the first place. They've even stooped to allowing the conspiracy theory to spread that the true origin of the virus is overseas. It's shameful. When the immediate crisis is over, the world needs to hold the CPC accountable. You don't get to set a fire and show up with a bucket three months later expecting to be declared a hero. So, Jack Ma donating masks around the world can be a positive thing for the people affected by the virus right now, but it can also be a cynical political move at the same time.
- AviationAtom 7y agoJack Ma seems like a pretty cool dude from what I know of him. I think he's kind of seen as their version of Elon Musk.
- Leary 7y agoMasayoshi Son wanted to give his home country Japan 1 million tests, and suffered a huge backlash on Twitter from people who said too many tests would "overwhelm the health system". [1] https://www.businessinsider.com/masayoshi-son-breaks-twitter-hiatus-to-tweet-about-coronavirus-2020-3 https://www.businessinsider.com/masayoshi-son-breaks-twitter... No good deed goes unpunished, i guess.
- uranusjr 7y agoThe news feel under-informed to me. Much of the backlash against Son is carried-over from his other comment to send free masks to medical personnel. People are “wondering loudly” where on earth does he get so many masks when almost literally nobody in Japan can buy any. Doesn’t his move make the problem worse? The test tweet is under similar fire. How is he going to “provide” these tests? Japanese people are not getting tests not because they cannot afford them, but there is not enough medical resource to run the tests. He offering free tests does not move the needle much, but on the other hand may disrupt the already short-handed medical personnel. Son has long been criticised in Japan of deception via selective facts. The reputation may or may not be justified (he might just not be good at expressing himself and never felt the need to clarify), but his recent tweets are very on-brand with a bold claim and little detail, and it’s understandable for the Japanese to express the same doubts based on his persumed track record.
- starpilot 7y agoAmerica is now great again.
- t2riRXawYxLGGYb 7y agoPower move or not, these are things the US desperately needs. Just accept the damn supplies, thank them, and try to do better next time.
- avocado4 7y agoThere's no shortage of test kits, there's a shortage of PCR lab capacity to process those samples. Masks and ventilators would be a good thing to donate though.
- Gibbon1 7y agoThere are antibody test kits as well. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gGhoZ4zl_7w https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gGhoZ4zl_7w
- UncleOxidant 7y agoWe could probably use some ventilators as well.
- jariel 7y agoApparently, almost all of the world's saline bags were made in Puerto Rico, and a single hurricane disrupted this essential gear. There have been longstanding concerns about strategic food - and even Oil supply, I don't see how the US or any nation can reasonably not have the domestic demand to meet an emergency. China has been engaging in a form of systematic dumping on a variety of industries for quite a long time - most of us enjoyed the benefits of lower prices while local producers went out of business. The nefariousness of their strategy is that it's often difficult to tell the difference between simple 'low-cost advantage' vs. actual dumping strategies, and who in the business world is going to argue against lower prices? Nobody. The US military certainly wouldn't have 99% of their ammunition 'made in China', well, war is much more than bullets, moreover, there's much more to life than war ... It's definitely time to have national regulations on a lot of such goods. A simple ban on the import of strategic goods would work really well - America is large enough that there'd be several domestic providers. Americans would end up paying more for certain items, but does it really matter when the surpluses are so large? So it costs $4 per mask instead of $2? The price is not as important as availability. It would be a very natural and synergistic way to increase wages as well. This could be done in concert with a few key allies on a product by product basis.
- pl0x 7y agoWhile this is a kind gesture it is likely propaganda and a power move.
- jayliew 7y agoAnd what if the mask itself is already tainted with the virus? Wouldn't you want to verify that it's actually free of the virus in the first place? It is coming from China.
- mythrwy 7y agoMask tainted with virus? Cmmon man, that is a tremendous stretch of likelihood. And would lead to action. Original poster was talking about masks not meeting some specification. And I'm pretty sure most of your stuff has been coming from China for a long time. I really am mindblown by both your, and original poster's negativity on this. The guy is almost certainly trying to help. So thanks. And I say this as someone who disapproves very strongly of the CCP.
- jayliew 7y agoI don't care about "some spec". I want to know how this product, that is coming from China, isn't already tainted with the virus itself. Your refutation to my logic is "cmmon man" ? It would lead to what action precisely? I'm not a pessimist. I'm trying to be pragmatic.
- mythrwy 7y agoIt's not a refutation of logic though because you didn't provide any. It's simply scoffing at your ridiculous level of suspicion. You aren't being pragmatic. There is a different term for what you are being.
- jayliew 7y agoI've said it repeatedly, but I'll say it again. Here's the logic for you to refute. 1. Mask / test kit made in China. 2. Presumably, it came in contact with the hands of the people making it, in China. 3. If any of those people making the masks and test kits were infected, then there's a chance that the virus itself will be actually sitting on the masks and test kits themselves. So, we just ignore that?
- 7y ago
- ck2 7y agoThere is no way the current administration is going to accept them and make the US look "weak" or "dire". Without exaggeration it's an easy guess they will sit in a warehouse unused no matter how urgent the need.
- MuffinFlavored 7y agoHow much do the test kits cost and how are they made? What materials? I read there are like, 3 key special materials involved? How are they administered? I've Googled and haven't found a simple answer. Is it spit?
- mrtweetyhack 7y agolaced with cornoavirus