Is coronavirus testing really important for opening America?

[Voice of Reason]

Again, we are NEVER going to track down all the people who might be infected and we know it only takes one infected person/animal/surface/etc. to continue the spread.

 

Other countries are doing it. Why can't we?

 

The goal of the testing is to control the spread not to eliminate the virus completely.

[theguru]

Other countries are doing it. Why can't we?

 

The goal of the testing is to control the spread not to eliminate the virus completely.

 

Other countries might be trying to do it but we both know it will be impossible.

 

Seriously, there isn't any controlling the Rona, you might slow it down, but you are not going to control it.

[PurplePride92]

 

Seriously, there isn't any controlling the Rona, you might slow it down, but you are not going to control it.

 

And that is why you won’t catch me chilling in public without a mask on until at least summer 2021.

[Bluegrasscard]

Other countries are doing it. Why can't we?

 

The goal of the testing is to control the spread not to eliminate the virus completely.

 

No one except the small countries are coming close to testing the bulk of their citizenry.

 

Germany shows 20K per million tested, USA is 12K per million. There is a gap but its not orders of magnitude. But no sizable is country has reached even testing 10% of their population.

 

Source is the worldometer site.

[Voice of Reason]

No one except the small countries are coming close to testing the bulk of their citizenry.

 

Germany shows 20K per million tested, USA is 12K per million. There is a gap but its not orders of magnitude. But no sizable is country has reached even testing 10% of their population.

 

Source is the worldometer site.

 

I think it is really important in this discussion that we define what we mean by testing. In my view I am not talking about testing everybody for antibodies etc.

 

I am talking strictly about testing people who think they might be infected. That doesn't have to be the bulk of the population. Test early and often, then do contact tracing. Get ahead of the curve so you control it. That is all we can hope to do without treatment or vaccine.

[Irish Cat]

The Rona will likely kill more Americans this year than any war that we have had but as long as folks can go outside to play it doesn’t matter.

 

World War II was 400,000+ and the Civil War was 650,000+. We are a long way from either of those numbers. I don't see it happening.

[Bluegrasscard]

I think it is really important in this discussion that we define what we mean by testing. In my view I am not talking about testing everybody for antibodies etc.

 

I am talking strictly about testing people who think they might be infected. That doesn't have to be the bulk of the population. Test early and often, then do contact tracing. Get ahead of the curve so you control it. That is all we can hope to do without treatment or vaccine.

 

OK, that makes sense.

 

The numbers by state are all over the board when it comes to this. Consistency is not the name of the game in this area.

[PurplePride92]

World War II was 400,000+ and the Civil War was 650,000+. We are a long way from either of those numbers. I don't see it happening.

 

I missed some zeroes there. Lol.

[JDEaston]

I don't see the logic.

 

Someone can get a test, be negative, and contract the virus on their way out the door from the testing center, at the grocery, at Home Depot, at the park, etc. In other words, all a test tells us is at the second in time someone is tested they are either negative or positive. In other words, moving forward the negative test result is essentially useless because none of us have any way of knowing if the tested subject remains negative until they are tested again.

 

Additionally, the jury is still out on antibodies/immunity for people that have had the Rona. In other words, just because you got it once doesn't mean you can't get it a second time. So even if you have antibodies, so what, the antibodies don't necessarily give you immunity from being reinfected.

 

My point is when you think this through testing is a big nothing burger other than the whole testing process is used as a "sleight of hand" manipulation to continue to justify taking away our freedom.

 

What am I missing here?

 

You're right about the fact that anyone can contract the rona right after a test, so that point of the test is useless in that sense, it more less just gives some people peace of mind that they don't have it even if they had been sick from something else.

 

To be honest though I believe the biggest reason for the testing is to allow doctors, the cdc, etc to learn more about the virus, mainly how is spreads as well as whether it is spreading more or less rapidly at any given time. Of course the numbers aren't going to be completely accurate, but you can at least gather data from the percentage of those that have been tested that are either positive or negative, as well as notice trends as to how quick it is spreading or if it has slowed down.

Edited April 20, 2020 by JDEaston

[MBWC41]

I told my wife 10 years ago when we killed Osama bin Laden that the Chinese government was a greater threat than he was.

 

I still believe that...

 

This is our new way of life. This is the blueprint that the world needs to bring us down.

 

This will happen every couple years from now on. A new virus with no cure and no vaccine.

 

All it takes is someone smart enough to infect a couple people heading into our country and it will spread just as this one has.

 

911 was nothing compared to the 42000 deaths from this. It’s a lot easier this way too.

 

Like it or not, this is the new regular.

[theguru]

You're right about the fact that anyone can contract the rona right after a test, so that point of the test is useless in that sense, it more less just gives some people peace of mind that they don't have it even if they had been sick from something else.

 

To be honest though I believe the biggest reason for the testing is to allow doctors, the cdc, etc to learn more about the virus, mainly how is spreads as well as whether it is spreading more or less rapidly at any given time. Of course the numbers aren't going to be completely accurate, but you can at least gather data from the percentage tage of those that have been tested that are either positive or negative, as well as notice trends as to how quick it is spreading or if it has slowed down.

 

I agree it is learn as we go but we have to go.

[Hellcats]

I missed some zeroes there. Lol.

 

I don’t know. You may be right.

 

By the time we add the deaths 42,000 as of today, the next surge that happens about mid May, and these suicides, overdoses, heart attacks, etc. because of the shut down we may get to WW2 numbers.

[JDEaston]

I agree it is learn as we go but we have to go.

 

Yeah I can see both sides of that. I feel like we can open some things up but we have to be careful with what we open up. "Crowded" beaches, sports arenas, cruise ships, amusement parks, things like that shouldn't be opened up right away, imo. There are ways to open up a lot of businesses as well as other things though that don't hold mass amounts of people.

[John Anthony]

NEW STUDY: 4.1% of adults in Los Angeles have COVID-19 antibodies.

 

This means 221,000-442,000 adults in LA have been infected, which is 28-55x higher than confirmed cases.

 

I think at least half the population has been exposed.

[PurplePride92]

I don’t know. You may be right.

 

By the time we add the deaths 42,000 as of today, the next surge that happens about mid May, and these suicides, overdoses, heart attacks, etc. because of the shut down we may get to WW2 numbers.

 

Good point.