Thread by @ASlavitt

COVID Update May 1: It’s May 1, 2020 and everyone who wants to be tested for COVID-19 should be able to get one. 1/

The more I see the more I understand this is because the government is relying on the private sector to do what it wants, not intervening aggressively. 2/

The private sector could “add more capacity, but why would I when it won’t be needed after 18 months” I am told.

They have to be told, not asked. $25 billion has been committed to testing. Now the companies must be directed. 3/

I have had health commissioners begging for FDA-approved swabs when any sterile swab will do. The FDA-approved swabs were designed for the machine. 4/

There are “recipes” for re-agents that should be made available to every lab in the country — open source. 5/

Of course, all this is only if you believe everybody who wants a test should get one. 6/

-the essential worker who lives w/ his elderly mom
-the orderly going from one nursing home to another
-the asymptomatic college kid who returns home to see his parents
-the guy w/ the cough who comes to work anyway
-the person who wants to board an plane or go to a restaurant 7/

If you believe that then you move heaven and earth & many more things are possible.

I wish we really could wish this virus away & do those things without a lot of risk. 8/

But it turns out you actually have to act if you to have offices, school, restaurants & travel.

This is not beyond our scope but it is beyond our will right now. 9/

Prisons, detention centers, meat packing plants, nursing homes need daily testing. The outbreaks here create uncontrolled spread. 10/

I find very few people who can act on this willing to do what’s necessary. They point other directions quite easily but rarely at themselves.

There are wonderful exceptions but they stand out. 11/

Here’s my podcast #inthebubble co-host Zach. He’s graduating high school & they sent him a cap & gown even without a full ceremony. We’re so proud of him. 12/

Many are suffering because they can’t work. Many are just disrupted & are putting things on hold until things are safe.

Some are just saying “we have to open up” without being willing to do the necessary work. 13/

I would say we need leaders who can make the tough decisions, but these decisions aren’t all that tough. /end