Need FAST turn around of tests - same day - so you can isolate & not infect others. More than 2 days, as is sadly too common is just Kabuki theatre. With that delay, a country is just collecting statistics & not actually BREAKING transmission-chains
medrxiv.org/content/10.110…
US is moving towards Kabuki Theatre testing. Turn-around time has slowed to 4-8 days. Politicians tout test #, but
“if you don’t get results back in a day or so, outbreaks really can’t be stopped w/out isolating & quarantining all contacts preemptively”
theatlantic.com/science/archiv…
Kabuki Theatre testing (i.e slow turn-around ) makes contact-tracing to stop new infections infeasible. It turns all of us into Person C instead of Person B. In #viraltime, we don't make the time, the virus makes the time and it ticks ferociously fast.
thelancet.com/journals/langl…
If it takes 7 DAYS to get test results back, then testing isn't actually stopping person-to-person infections, its just counting how many matches got burnt. ht
@juan_delcan
Fauci on Tests:
"Enough of this nonsense of..waiting 5 days to get it back. We've really got to have something where you go in, you get it, bingo"
US invests half a billion$ to develop Public NIH rapid test program to fix Quest/LabCorp market failure
medscape.com/viewarticle/93…
We are so early in the Pandemic & can do much better -- millions of tests in each country each week. Excited for faster, cheaper, less invasive, at home tests beyond PCR. Coming sooner than you think & for other diseases besides corona... nature.com/articles/d4158…
"You have to have the reimbursement system pay a little bit extra for 24 hrs, pay the normal fee for 48 hrs, and pay nothing [if it isn’t done by then]. And they will fix it overnight”
Right solution for slow turnaround of commercial tests #viraltime
wired.com/story/bill-gat…
This virus' sneakily spreads before ppl show symptoms. To stop it, need action in #viraltime, find ppl when they are *infectious*, not 5-10 days later. At-home antigen tests are ready to go. But they have been sitting on the shelf, unused, for months. Why? vox.com/2020/8/27/2137…
Imp piece ht @apoorva_nyc @michaelmina_lab
PCR has been too slow. Its detecting people *after* they are contagious
We hv frequent, cheap tests to tell ppl WHEN they are contagious & stop infecting others. Time to use them & act not count cases #viraltime
Finally! $5 antigen test (lateral flow assay like a pregnancy test) approved by FDA; Results in 15mins
Fast, easy tests tell ppl WHEN they are contagious. Imagine how quickly epidemic slows if 150 million ppl get tests at home weekly & +ve's stay there statnews.com/2020/09/23/fas…
Tests by themselves do nothing. UK conducts amongst the most tests per capita, yet hardly 1 in 5 ppl isolate after +ve result. They only work IF ppl are supported by financial & psychological help. Or when ppl in crowded homes are provided hotel rooms. theguardian.com/world/2020/sep…
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