[OutsiderFan]

OF, before you conclude that a "drive up" testing approach is a good idea, it might be wise to consider that a limited number of testing kits are currently available. If they get consumed by people who are "just being safe" but have a low probability of being positive we will really have a problem if this outbreak becomes widespread. The capacity to manufacture these kits is also limited. We can't just order a bunch of them and have them show up in a week. The CDC is certainly being cautious about using them up, but that may be because they know we don't have "enough" and can't get "enough" soon.

If it was hard to test, there is no way these other countries could be doing tests on the scale they are. I didn't say everyone should be tested. There should be some criteria. Moreover, the point of doing widespread testing is for surveillance, to get a picture for what is happening in terms of community spread. It is not to identify every virus carrier per se, but to understand what is happening for planning purposes. Without widespread testing we are blind.

I don't know that the "test" that is being done in other countries is the same test that the CDC specifies. The CDC test is described in https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/mers/lab...sting.html. I agree that we need to get data, but it is EXTREMELY important that the data be "apples to apples" and be reliable. Drawing conclusions from inaccurate testing data is possibly worse that having no data. I don't know that the CDC test is any good, but the problems they had with multiplying up one of the fragments with PCR have caused them to drop it from the test. We also aren't in a real good place with negative controls on this test, as there could be other corona virus that has the same "signature" as Covid-19 with these three (now two) markers but does not cause the disease. Thus the comment about no FDA approved test in the above link.

ANOTHER variable to consider is mutations or gene sequences of the virus. What it was in December might not be what it is in March. Perhaps this would provide some clues to re-infection. Then again, testing may not have been able to pick up trace levels of the virus in people who had it but were cleared. IOW, re-infection could be a misnomer, and the reality is it never really went away.

Sometimes the more you think you know, the more you realize how little you do. Seems to be the case with SARS-CoV-2.

[OutsiderFan]

OF, before you conclude that a "drive up" testing approach is a good idea, it might be wise to consider that a limited number of testing kits are currently available. If they get consumed by people who are "just being safe" but have a low probability of being positive we will really have a problem if this outbreak becomes widespread. The capacity to manufacture these kits is also limited. We can't just order a bunch of them and have them show up in a week. The CDC is certainly being cautious about using them up, but that may be because they know we don't have "enough" and can't get "enough" soon.

If it was hard to test, there is no way these other countries could be doing tests on the scale they are. I didn't say everyone should be tested. There should be some criteria. Moreover, the point of doing widespread testing is for surveillance, to get a picture for what is happening in terms of community spread. It is not to identify every virus carrier per se, but to understand what is happening for planning purposes. Without widespread testing we are blind.

I don't know that the "test" that is being done in other countries is the same test that the CDC specifies. The CDC test is described in https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/mers/lab...sting.html. I agree that we need to get data, but it is EXTREMELY important that the data be "apples to apples" and be reliable. Drawing conclusions from inaccurate testing data is possibly worse that having no data. I don't know that the CDC test is any good, but the problems they had with multiplying up one of the fragments with PCR have caused them to drop it from the test. We also aren't in a real good place with negative controls on this test, as there could be other corona virus that has the same "signature" as Covid-19 with these three (now two) markers but does not cause the disease. Thus the comment about no FDA approved test in the above link.

ANOTHER variable to consider is mutations or gene sequences of the virus. What it was in December might not be what it is in March. Perhaps this would provide some clues to re-infection. Then again, testing may not have been able to pick up trace levels of the virus in people who had it but were cleared. IOW, re-infection could be a misnomer, and the reality is it never really went away.

Sometimes the more you think you know, the more you realize how little you do. Seems to be the case with SARS-CoV-2.