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Given the long incubation period, as well as the fact that many people who are carriers are completely asymptomatic, blanket testing has been tentatively shown

Given the long incubation period, as well as the fact that many people who are carriers are completely asymptomatic, blanket testing has been tentatively shown to be an effective way to halt the spread of the virus. See: the whole of South Korea's approach, as well as https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/coronavirus-vo-euganeo-blanket-testing-veneto-luca-zaia-a9411201.html https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/coronavirus-...

alkonaut 7y ago
My point wasn’t that fewer than possible should be tested, my point was that given the constraints (staff, equipment, time) it’s best to test people that it makes a difference for, such as those who must be in contact with people - in healthcare. If you could test everyone with symptoms (or everyone full stop) then go for it. That’s not possible though.
- MagnumOpus 7y ago
  > That’s not possible though With less foot-dragging it can be. Germany tests 20,000 people a day, Korea tests 15,000 a day, the US (4-6x more populous) only test a few thousand...
DanBC 7y ago
The tests have an approx 20% false negative rate. You test someone who has symptoms. The test returns negative. What do you tell them to do, given that you know the false negative rate? This doctor says it better than me. https://twitter.com/keirshiels/status/1241042696560619523?s=20 https://twitter.com/keirshiels/status/1241042696560619523?s=...
- colonelcanoe 7y ago
  You tell them the same thing regardless of the outcome of the test. The 80% of the time it returns positive, you tell the epidemiologist, and they prevent a few further infections by investigating close personal contacts.
Hamuko 7y ago
>blanket testing has been tentatively shown to be an effective way to halt the spread of the virus. Testing does not halt the virus. A test is just an indicator to see if you have it or not. Even if you could test for Corona as easily as you can for drunk driving, it'd still do us no good if you don't actually take some concrete steps to halt the virus. If you have mild symptoms, you don't need a test. You need to stay the fuck home. No symptoms? Avoid going out if you don't need to.
perl4ever 7y ago
I saw a paper that said 80% of positive tests in a Chinese population sample of people without symptoms were false positives. Is there some reason that wouldn't happen anywhere else?

alkonaut 7y ago

My point wasn’t that fewer than possible should be tested, my point was that given the constraints (staff, equipment, time) it’s best to test people that it makes a difference for, such as those who must be in contact with people - in healthcare. If you could test everyone with symptoms (or everyone full stop) then go for it. That’s not possible though.

MagnumOpus 7y ago
> That’s not possible though With less foot-dragging it can be. Germany tests 20,000 people a day, Korea tests 15,000 a day, the US (4-6x more populous) only test a few thousand...

DanBC 7y ago

The tests have an approx 20% false negative rate. You test someone who has symptoms. The test returns negative. What do you tell them to do, given that you know the false negative rate? This doctor says it better than me. https://twitter.com/keirshiels/status/1241042696560619523?s=20 https://twitter.com/keirshiels/status/1241042696560619523?s=...

colonelcanoe 7y ago
You tell them the same thing regardless of the outcome of the test. The 80% of the time it returns positive, you tell the epidemiologist, and they prevent a few further infections by investigating close personal contacts.

Hamuko 7y ago

>blanket testing has been tentatively shown to be an effective way to halt the spread of the virus. Testing does not halt the virus. A test is just an indicator to see if you have it or not. Even if you could test for Corona as easily as you can for drunk driving, it'd still do us no good if you don't actually take some concrete steps to halt the virus. If you have mild symptoms, you don't need a test. You need to stay the fuck home. No symptoms? Avoid going out if you don't need to.

perl4ever 7y ago

I saw a paper that said 80% of positive tests in a Chinese population sample of people without symptoms were false positives. Is there some reason that wouldn't happen anywhere else?