takethepoints
Helluva Engineer
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Problem with this approach = we need to test a vastly larger part of the population then we are doing now in order to get a valid statistical/demographic profile of the disease. That's especially needed in the US because its territory is so large and we have many areas with low population density. And those areas tend to have older populations that are at a higher risk.Actually not. I am sitting here watching the South Carolina DHEC daily press conference. They said although there are exceptions, they do not recommend testing people that do not have symptoms. If there is reason to believe that they may have the virus, they are to self Quarantine. But they said even people that have the virus may not test positive if they are not showing symptoms yet. The only way around that is to keep testing those people every day for 14 days, which does not scale.
But, as I say above, I think this restriction is temporary; the production of tests is taking off and any hospital lab can do the work. This part of the response seems to be coming on line as I write.
Update: But the point about shortages of medical personnel is well taken. Let's hope we can find ways around that, but that would mean using the armed forces and getting retired nurses/lab techs back on line instanter.