Posted on May 23, 2020
The US tested the wrong people for coronavirus
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Posted in these groups: 
Coronavirus COVID19Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
Medicine
Health
Coronavirus COVID19Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Medicine Health
Posted 4 y ago
Responses: 3
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U.S. absolutely failed in not doing universal testing from the start with test kits that 1) were not contaminated and 2) and did not return false negatives and false positives.
I've seen numerous people saying that folks with a healthy immune system need not worry about the virus. However, that could also be the very same demographic showing no symptoms and exposing other people who may not fare as well from exposure. Yes, by all means cultivate a healthy immune system but it is narcissistic to imagine that will contribute to putting an end to the spread *without adequate testing*. "Stay at home" has been an inadequate substitute in place of universal testing - for a myriad of reasons.
UAE has created a laser test that returns near immediate results, but the news article stated it would not be available for several more months. Good testing is better late than never. Will it be possible before the end of summer? Will the U.S. acquire it and use it?
I've seen numerous people saying that folks with a healthy immune system need not worry about the virus. However, that could also be the very same demographic showing no symptoms and exposing other people who may not fare as well from exposure. Yes, by all means cultivate a healthy immune system but it is narcissistic to imagine that will contribute to putting an end to the spread *without adequate testing*. "Stay at home" has been an inadequate substitute in place of universal testing - for a myriad of reasons.
UAE has created a laser test that returns near immediate results, but the news article stated it would not be available for several more months. Good testing is better late than never. Will it be possible before the end of summer? Will the U.S. acquire it and use it?
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MAJ Ken Landgren
I read that the US testing was dead in the water in February due to testing tribulations. South Korea started planning and deployed many testing stations around the country which helped them with contract tracing. They currently have less than 500 deaths. The US was several weeks behind Korea in planning and executing. By the time Trump called National Emergency on March 13, the pandemic in the US was out of control.
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SGT Mary G.
Yes, MAJ Ken Landgren - South Korea was an excellent model for how to handle the pandemic wasn't it. And the testing in U.S. started out with a bad batch of tests that spread the virus instead. It sounds sketchy but was supposedly reported by the lab where the tests originated (some federal department lab in Georgia).
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MAJ Ken Landgren
SGT Mary G. - Yes I don't have the technical knowledge but we had early testing tribulations after we decided to produce our own tests. Then creating better tests faced government bureaucracy. So essentially our testing program was dead in the water in February. I believe we had stringent protocols for those who could be tested, something like only those returning from China. I don't remember the exact protocols but it hindered testing.
South Korea did everything right. They planned and executed in February and deployed testing stations across the country. The US did not start planning in earnest until late March. Heck we were so late that we did not address ordering PPEs until late March.
South Korea did everything right. They planned and executed in February and deployed testing stations across the country. The US did not start planning in earnest until late March. Heck we were so late that we did not address ordering PPEs until late March.
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Bureaucracy slows down response. Always. A (weak) defense of bureaucracy: Efficacy of testing in many countries is still suspect. Crappy sensitivity and specificity skews the data and prevents effective data compilation.
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Capt Gregory Prickett
Texas shows to have a 7% positive rate, which is good, but we are only hitting 25 people per 1000, and we don't have a tracking system set up like South Korea used.
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LTC (Join to see)
Capt Gregory Prickett - South Korea's response to COVID19 is definitely admirable. And reminiscent of Animal Farm.
Post SARS/MERS, the RoK implemented pandemic legislation streamlining development and implementation of rapid testing, digital contact tracing, and isolation procedures.
They've definitely done a better job than anyone else on the testing front. The CDC and FDA could learn some serious lessons. Their pop-up test centers are great, and although not as feasible in the US due to our greater population distribution and geography, worth emulating.
Their high tech contact tracing and zero tolerance isolation simply would not be tolerated in the US.
Post SARS/MERS, the RoK implemented pandemic legislation streamlining development and implementation of rapid testing, digital contact tracing, and isolation procedures.
They've definitely done a better job than anyone else on the testing front. The CDC and FDA could learn some serious lessons. Their pop-up test centers are great, and although not as feasible in the US due to our greater population distribution and geography, worth emulating.
Their high tech contact tracing and zero tolerance isolation simply would not be tolerated in the US.
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MAJ Ken Landgren
LTC (Join to see) - Nice I just posted the accomplishments of South Korea. They got serious in February with planning and deploying many testing stations. The US did not get serious until the middle of March when National Emergency was called. It was too late and too little at that point.
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