Thread by @stef_friedhoff

So true. Just came back from Germany, where testing IS a public good. Let me tell you a bit about how that works, and how it keeps the country running. /1

https://twitter.com/michaelmina_lab/status/1435367919865712644

First, testing is free for anyone with an address in the country. Don't have that? You can still get an official lab test for between $15-40. Or you can buy a rapid test anywhere--grocery store, CVS, the mall -- for 95 cents. /2

So, tests are free -- and they are everywhere. Want to take your kids to the public pool? The test tent is right outside, so anyone not vaccinated yet can get a rapid test. Want to go eat at your favorite 'Italiener'? Same thing. /3
arriba-erlebnisbad.de/news-1/details…

A good friends takes care of her husband, who has late stage Parkinsons. She was isolated all last year, couldn't see friends so as to not risk him getting Covid. This year? 'Splendid!" she says. Her hallway is filled with rapid tests. Visitors take one, wait 15 min, and voila /4

Germany got vaccines later so needed an alternative to keep people safe and businesses going. Everyone uses the '3 Gs' where to be allowed into stores, offices etc you have to be either genesen (recovered), geimpft (vaccinated), or getestet (tested.) /5

My sister runs a daycare center. It never closed as children of essential workers were continuously taken care of. Without outbreaks. How? Small bubbles. Masks for staff (but not infants & young kids.) And: tests. PCR for staff at first. Now, daily rapid tests for all. /6

If this sounds arduous: The kids get lollipop tests. Adults do saliva or a nose swab, both nostrils. The rapid tests will tell you if it there was enough material or it is invalid. It becomes a habit. I got more tests in 2 weeks than in 1.5 pandemic years in the US. /7

To be sure, I am vaccinated. And everyone loved our 'cute' CDC cards. But since we were traveling, and I'd just finished a data dive on breakthrough infections before I left, I was curious. Pix here are a testing site at a Brauhaus (brewery.) /8

Like masks and vaccination proof --even my 86 yr old inlaws have their vaccination record on their phone-- tests are not controversial. You wear masks and get tested like you stop at a red light and pay for your bus ticket. /9

Now, imagine what ubiquitous cheap testing could do in the US. Like, start rebuilding trust in schools and get us out of the false dichotomy of terrible learning losses vs unsafe schools. Or, make restaurants, events and stores florish by making it safer to go for everyone/10

It is incomprehensible how the US has failed on testing. Tests approved in other nations are still waiting for FDA approval, some have been for 8+ months. Congress approved billions for testing but no mechanism was created to ensure implementation of the mitigation tool. /11

So as @michaelmina_lab has been saying for 18 months, the administration needs to act on testing. URGENTLY

In the meantime, I 'm happy to share a rapid test or two. It's possible we brought home a couple dozen in between the Kinderschokolade and the gummy bears. /end