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MA sequences 30% of PCR tests, and has so far found only a single Omicron case...

• incongruity 5y ago
  Couldn’t that potentially be explained by the lag between infection and symptoms with many people being asymptomatic early on while still shedding virus at significant levels? If that’s theory is true, we should see many more tests and identifications of omicron in the coming week.
  • seoaeu 5y ago
    MA does massive amounts of surveillance testing of people who don’t have symptoms. So infections should be picked up by both wastewater testing and PCR tests at about the same time
    • fragmede 5y ago
      Specifically, Boston has a large number of biotech firms and colleges who have the equipment to do PCR testing, as well as the know how to run them.
  • Robotbeat 5y ago
    Still, I think it means we’re likely in the early/mid stages of the exponential curve. I saw estimate of ~5 day doubling time. Meaning that even if 3 weeks ago there were 100 people with Omicron in Boston, there are still only like 800 now. Takes another month or three for it to explode to a large case load.