[BostonCard]

I do think random testing wouldn't have helped much, as the number of positives would have been so small it would haver been meaningless. Targeted testing of people showing symptoms would be another matter.

Agree that random testing of asymptomatic individuals would have been very low yield.  I think at that point in the pandemic, the goal would have been to test people showing symptoms consistent with COVID-19. We know from the case in Vallejo that testing at the time was limited to individuals with symptoms and a travel history to Hubei province; because of that limitation, by definition, we were never going to find cases of community spread.  So, yeah, it would have been nice to be able to test patients with a severe viral pneumonia, regardless of travel history, followed by patients with symptoms of COVID-19 (whether hospitalized or not).  Most tests would have been negative, but even a couple positives would have alerted the authorities that community spread was already ongoing.  If you have enough tests, then you try to track contacts and test them, but given what I've seen to date, I don't have much confidence that it would have been able to be carried out effectively.

BC

[BostonCard]

I do think random testing wouldn't have helped much, as the number of positives would have been so small it would haver been meaningless. Targeted testing of people showing symptoms would be another matter.

Agree that random testing of asymptomatic individuals would have been very low yield.  I think at that point in the pandemic, the goal would have been to test people showing symptoms consistent with COVID-19. We know from the case in Vallejo that testing at the time was limited to individuals with symptoms and a travel history to Hubei province; because of that limitation, by definition, we were never going to find cases of community spread.  So, yeah, it would have been nice to be able to test patients with a severe viral pneumonia, regardless of travel history, followed by patients with symptoms of COVID-19 (whether hospitalized or not).  Most tests would have been negative, but even a couple positives would have alerted the authorities that community spread was already ongoing.  If you have enough tests, then you try to track contacts and test them, but given what I've seen to date, I don't have much confidence that it would have been able to be carried out effectively.

BC