Lots of attention (finally) on rapid tests today, but it is important that they be used properly and in the right setting. They have limits, they are best at picking up people who are acutely contagious, they won't pick up those who are exposed and incubating the virus.
They need to be done frequently on a large population, perhaps twice a week. Someone testing negative one day, could very well test positive the next day. They are not a replacement for PCR testing.
They need to be coupled with supports; lots of the hotspots are in workplaces where people live paycheck to paycheck. We need to support these workers so that they keep their families fed while keeping their co-workers safe. Federal sick leave benefits should kick in seamlessly
New York City has some impressive services set up for their testing program:
What concerns me about our approach to this so far:
- Each province was been given tests, but they have no idea what to do with them
- There are limited quantities now because of a global supply crunch
- Health Canada has not approved great tests that are being used in Europe
- There isn't a good seamless support regime for workers. The federal sick leave benefit is still before senate
- Scarce tests are being eaten up by the private sector for social events
- We need millions of tests a week, the 4m we have now is a drop in the bucket
One rapid test, from SD Biosensor (South Korea) and marketed by Roche, has great numbers from this European analysis and has been awaiting approval for months now. Siemens' test has impressive numbers too but they haven't even bothered to apply in Canada

ecdc.europa.eu/en/publication…
What is needed now is clear leadership from the federal government to
- accelerate approval and direct local production of rapid tests
- buy hundreds of millions of tests, enough for each Canadian to test twice a week
- Cooperate with the provinces to do mass screening programs
As an example, we can go to the hardest hit areas in the GTA, NE Brampton and NW Toronto, a combined population of 473k. We would need 947k tests over two weekends to do a trial of Slovakia-like mass testing program. We could easily flatten the curve in these areas quickly.
This is possible with what we have on hand. It requires leadership and cooperation to get it done. If the trial works, it'll prove that rapid tests are the best shot we have of keeping things controlled until enough people get vaccinated in the Spring and Summer.
If we do nothing, we will be stuck in this pattern of lockdowns and reopenings, with the massive economic losses that strategy entails.

My earlier tweet on the mass testing program Slovakia did:

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More from @KashPrime

17 Nov
To get to #COVIDzero we need to look at Slovakia. Over two weekends, they brought their numbers crashing down, from an R0 of 1.47 to 0.62 in just two weeks Thread ->
How did they do it?
- They used two rapid tests from South Korea (Rapigen and SD Biosensor)
- They tested everyone between 10-65 twice over Oct 30-Nov 1, and Nov 6-8.
- Positive tests were isolated for 10 days.
- Untested citizens isolated for 10 days
Impressively, they mobilized 5000 eight-person teams, composed of health care workers, military medics and others.
They used polling stations as makeshift testing centres.
Results were available in 15 minutes
This way, they were able to test 3.6m out of 5.4m total population.
Read 8 tweets
15 Nov
I and #Masks4Canada are joining with many across the country in advocating for #CovidZero, the elimination of Covid-19 from our communities. I once thought this idea impossible, but watching Melbourne, Halifax and the rest of the Atlantic do it has been inspiring. Thread ->
This is likely the only way we’ll be able to save many lives, businesses and to return to some semblance of a normal life before vaccines are rolled out. Watching the US and Europe go through wrenching spikes and lockdowns is instructive. We can avoid their fate.
First, we need to aim for zero. Lockdowns are coming in parts of the country, which are futile until leaks in our system are plugged. Including:
- Locking down the US border (for real this time)
- Setting regional bubbles
- Bring in the Australian mandatory quarantine system
Read 11 tweets
4 Nov
How do we prevent US style polarization from wrecking Canada?

Already here we are seeing signs of populist echo chambers, fueled by new right-wing news sources and through private Facebook groups.
Like it or not, the US election was far closer than expected, especially given Trump’s missteps on Covid19 and ethical and many other lapses. Exit polls of his voters consistently showed that law and order as well as economic issues were their main concerns.
Hidden Tribes breaks the electorate into a number of camps. What’s interesting is the centre-left and centre-right folks form a silent majority. It’s extremists on the fringes who drive polarization, and the same is happening here.
hiddentribes.us
Read 9 tweets
4 Nov
Many of you are undoubtedly shocked by the election outcome tonight. Our American neighbours will endure 4 more years of brash, incompetent populism.

Can it happen in Canada?

I couldn't sleep, so here I’ll list reasons how I think we can avoid a similar outcome
The rot that takes place with the loss of democratic norms requires a society to be in great distress, like hyperinflation in Germany in the 1930s. A well functioning government anticipates and cares for its citizens and heads off these crises through shared action.
Firstly, our government is much better run. A strong civil service was able to roll out funding during the Corona lockdown in record time. We have non partisan judges, who issue perfectly bland rulings. Hardly anyone here would be able to name a judge on the supreme court
Read 10 tweets
3 Nov
Great to hear that the Ontario government is going to adopt clear metrics on when to open and close regions. This will keep politics to a minimum, especially now that things may have started to turn around in parts of the province.
R = 1.04, but growth is still happening in some of the restricted regions, particularly in Peel region
And Ontario has the lowest active case count per capita outside of the Atlantic bubble

Read 5 tweets
2 Nov
There’s talk in Ontario of relaxing restrictions on restaurants and gyms, which were responsible for 40% of cases that could be traced in TO. Here are economic reasons of why this is a terrible idea, especially when much of Europe and the US is falling apart

Thread:
Ontario and Quebec are doing fairly well since imposing restrictions; growth in cases has been linear, not exponential, and hospitals have not been overwhelmed. If we can live with ~1000 cases and 10 deaths per day in Ontario, that is.
If you look at economic data from StatsCan, the economy contracted by ~15% during the peak of the first lockdown in March/April, and has largely bounced back to normal in the last few months
www150.statcan.gc.ca/t1/tbl1/en/tv.…
Read 6 tweets

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