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I bet some companies are working on a repeatable device that runs / re-runs tests. Think of it like a thermometer - you can reuse it as often as you like and ge

I bet some companies are working on a repeatable device that runs / re-runs tests. Think of it like a thermometer - you can reuse it as often as you like and get results in seconds. Of course that doesn't exist yet, but it would solve all the problems you mention.

abfan1127 6y ago
I'm sure. However the previous comment was lamenting that the government didn't do this for us at the beginning. Even If the test existed (it didn't), and had the money to do so (which is also huge), scaling manufacturing is a real challenge, mailing to 128m households is a huge challenge.
- pmoriarty 6y ago
  There's no need to mail tests to each individual end user. The tests could be manufactured locally and picked up in bulk by the end users from centralized locations. But even if they did have to be mailed to the end users in the hundreds of millions, that's not exactly an insurmountable challenge. Just a little while ago hundreds of millions of people got mailed ballots and plenty of other information so they could vote in the Presidential Election. That's not to mention all the junk mail each of us gets every single day. Look at the massive effort put in to the Manhattan Project and the Space Race. There's no reason the government couldn't have done something like that for mass testing, and saved hundreds of thousands of lives and trillions of dollars.
  - phobosanomaly 6y ago
    The head of government knew exactly how dangerous the virus was in early February, but chose not to do anything about it. https://science.sciencemag.org/content/369/6510/1409 https://science.sciencemag.org/content/369/6510/1409 One cannot be certain why, but perhaps it is due to the fact that the prior qualifications of this individual were: 1. Operating some mixed-use buildings in New York, and casinos in Atlantic City purchased through extensive family loans 2. Owning and operating a few golf courses 3. Licensing their name to some adult learning courses that were later revealed to be scams 4. Being the star of a reality TV show Without passing any sort of judgement on this person, they were completely unqualified to orchestrate anything anywhere near the complexity of the Manhattan Project or Space Race. They were unable to even prioritize and orchestrate the allocation of adequate PPE to healthcare facilities, as well as adequate testing capacity for 50% of Americans to be tested on a monthly basis let-alone daily. Again, no judgement on this individual, but they were totally unprepared and unwilling to manage the crisis and their failure to act likely hamstrung any meaningful attempt to coordinate the type of effort you are describing, which would have required federal buy-in.

abfan1127 6y ago

I'm sure. However the previous comment was lamenting that the government didn't do this for us at the beginning. Even If the test existed (it didn't), and had the money to do so (which is also huge), scaling manufacturing is a real challenge, mailing to 128m households is a huge challenge.

pmoriarty 6y ago
There's no need to mail tests to each individual end user. The tests could be manufactured locally and picked up in bulk by the end users from centralized locations. But even if they did have to be mailed to the end users in the hundreds of millions, that's not exactly an insurmountable challenge. Just a little while ago hundreds of millions of people got mailed ballots and plenty of other information so they could vote in the Presidential Election. That's not to mention all the junk mail each of us gets every single day. Look at the massive effort put in to the Manhattan Project and the Space Race. There's no reason the government couldn't have done something like that for mass testing, and saved hundreds of thousands of lives and trillions of dollars.
- phobosanomaly 6y ago
  The head of government knew exactly how dangerous the virus was in early February, but chose not to do anything about it. https://science.sciencemag.org/content/369/6510/1409 https://science.sciencemag.org/content/369/6510/1409 One cannot be certain why, but perhaps it is due to the fact that the prior qualifications of this individual were: 1. Operating some mixed-use buildings in New York, and casinos in Atlantic City purchased through extensive family loans 2. Owning and operating a few golf courses 3. Licensing their name to some adult learning courses that were later revealed to be scams 4. Being the star of a reality TV show Without passing any sort of judgement on this person, they were completely unqualified to orchestrate anything anywhere near the complexity of the Manhattan Project or Space Race. They were unable to even prioritize and orchestrate the allocation of adequate PPE to healthcare facilities, as well as adequate testing capacity for 50% of Americans to be tested on a monthly basis let-alone daily. Again, no judgement on this individual, but they were totally unprepared and unwilling to manage the crisis and their failure to act likely hamstrung any meaningful attempt to coordinate the type of effort you are describing, which would have required federal buy-in.