Thread by @AndrewMakeTweet

The best #COVID19 option, WHICH WE DON'T HAVE ANY MORE, was to develop a good test right away, deploy it in labs worldwide, test all people with concerning symptoms, test the contacts of all people who test positive, and quarantine all people with it. 1/

In the US we deployed a broken test, and now have too little testing capacity (and probably contact tracing capacity) so we're prioritizing (or "triaging") testing.

Triaging means not everyone gets it like they would in an ideal world. It's rationing. 2/

That means that many people who are being triaged out – people who are less sick or don't have a clear risk of exposure – won't get tested if they do present to healthcare settings. Many more are simply being told not to present in the first place. 3/

While these people might/should isolate themselves, they might not. And this certainly means there is no "contact tracing" for them. 4/

So between untested symptomatic people and "asymptomatic transmission" (some people have it, don't feel anything either early in its course or entirely, but spread it), this will spread more and more and more. 5/

This could create a scenario where transmission curves look as exponential as in this post, which will overwhelm and decimate health systems.

But all of that is assuming WE PROCEED LIKE 'NORMAL.'

6/
medium.com/@tomaspueyo/co…

SO DON'T PROCEED LIKE NORMAL.

Cancel everything. Stay in. Have phone calls with long lost friends. Write your book. Work remotely if able. Demand remote work. Demand paid sick leave during isolation. Demand non-essential operations be shutdown (like the NBA just did!). 7/

#CancelEverythingNow works.

China's epidemic was ballooning. It was out of control. But they told 1.4 BILLION people to isolate for 10 days. And it worked. We have to do the same. 'Normal' is a luxury we can't afford.

#CancelCulture #CancelEverything #CoronavirusPandemic 8/