Thread by @Mikel_Jollett

It's time to start thinking about what comes next and the very obvious solution is that we simply cannot reopen society in any meaningful way until we have a MASSIVE nationwide testing regimen.

That is the ONLY way that we are going to be able to go back to living our lives.

If we don't test, the virus will spread quickly and we will be back to social distancing (or death).

THE ENTIRE US POPULATION must be tested at regular intervals (ever few weeks). Those infected must be treated. Those who've come in contact with the disease must be quarantined.

This is a MASSIVE effort, requiring a war-time attitude, something like the production boom of world war 2, but instead of bombs and planes, we must manufacture equipment, reagents and establish massive new labs.

We're talking about 10-20 million tests PER DAY. It's huge.

We've faced bigger challenges as a country. Without this basic tool, we simply aren't going to be able to reopen society in any meaningful way until a vaccine is created which will take 12-18 months at the very least.

Seen from that perspective, it's not a high price to pay.

As with almost everything right now, the big issue is a failure of leadership.

There's a hard truth to face: this virus isn't going anywhere and social distancing alone is a blunt tool for lowering the number of cases ("flattening the curve") but it is NOT a long term solution.

The long term solution is mass testing. Everybody gets tested regularly and we treat the infected, quarantine all those exposed, and take great care to keep the most vulnerable isolated.

If we do this, we can leave our homes.

Until we do, we can't. It's just that simple.