Carl in Michigan
Diamond Member
- Aug 15, 2016
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Test Everyone. That's it. We need to follow the example of a small town in Italy where they starved the virus of new hosts.
How to Stop the Virus Now
m.theepochtimes.com
This solution was demonstrated on a small scale in study reported a few days ago in The Guardian. Researchers at the University of Padua tested all 3,300 residents of the Italian town of Vò and separated those carrying the virus — both symptomatic and asymptomatic — from those who were virus free. Transmission stopped immediately.
Could we test all 329,425,643 men, women, and children in the U.S.? It sounds like a tall order, but it’s not much different than taking the census, and the only bodily fluid needed is a small amount of nasal mucus (yes: snot). Because of economies of scale, the per unit cost of 300 million tests will likely be less than a dime, but even if, taking administrative costs and the usual inefficiencies into account, the total cost of each test turns out to be $20, the $6.5 billion price tag for Universal Coronavirus Testing will still be $600 million less than we’ll be spending this year alone on the census.
Just today, it was announced that researchers at three universities in the UK have developed a cheap coronavirus test that people could administer at home, although it will still take a $100 machine to analyze the results. They’re exploring now how to mass produce the necessary hardware. Also promising: On March 28th, the FDA approved a 15-minute test for use in the U.S.
And here’s an interesting possibility: With 334 million tests on the line in the U.S. alone — perhaps even billions over time — the same companies that manufacture those cheap at-home pregnancy tests might quickly develop a dirt cheap, self-contained, at-home test. Just shove it up your nose, and, seconds later, a plus-sign on the device says you’re carrying the virus, and a minus-sign says you’re not. Disposable devices of this sort could even be used to screen people entering venues where it’s especially important that infected people not mingle — the White House, perhaps?
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