CarlinAnnArbor
Diamond Member
- Aug 15, 2016
- 55,719
- 40,618
- 3,615
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
CommentaryThere is a relatively simple way to stop the coronavirus dead in its tracks. It might sound impossible at first, but it’s well within our capabilities, and it’s far less costly and disruptive...
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?
Last edited: