This is very admirable of Bill, but it seems odd that the world's biggest economy is reliant on hand-outs to keep its citizens healthy.
America is that way because rich people like Bill made it so. They worked hard at it and still do.
Gates Foundation program will issue home testing kits for Covid 19 in Seattle
131–140 of 237 posts
Re: Gates Foundation program will issue home testing kits for Covid 19 in Seattle
#132Earlier quoted context omitted.
I for one have full faith in the United States government to handle the situation competently and expediently. Facetiousness aside, that doesn't sound like the CDC. "Hide the numbers even from ourselves and hope it goes away" is the antithesis of what a scientist stands for. No way someone at the CDC wants that as official policy. But you know who has tons of influence over policy, an estranged relation with objectiv…
The CDC screwed up the tests all by themselves, even the final primers they are using are questionable. Combined with the FDA blocking local labs from testing based on bad regulations, the government screwed up the initial response just fine without any help from Trump. Trump says anyone who wants to be tested can get tested and the CDC says they just shipped a couple million test kits around the country. As usual, d…
> Trump says anyone who wants to be tested can get tested
Which was an entirely false claim at the time he said it.
Re: Gates Foundation program will issue home testing kits for Covid 19 in Seattle
#133From what I’ve seen, a lot of the false negatives with these tests comes from the fact they require two swabs (nose and throat) that must be performed thoroughly/correctly in order to get a viable sample. I wonder how home testing will impact efficacy.
Source please, couldn't find this information anywhere saying this.
It’s a long standing problem with these kind of rapid diagnostics for respiratory illnesses:
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/rapid-flu-tests-only-50-to-70-p...
Doing two swabs helps mitigate this, as does comparing anal and oral swabs. Here’s a more thorough breakdown:
https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/22221751.2020.1...
Re: Gates Foundation program will issue home testing kits for Covid 19 in Seattle
#134Korea is doing drive-through testing with results available in three days. [1] That the US is still at the level of doing testing in a private and haphazard fashion is effectively criminal and seems likely to have a serious impact fairly soon. The US had a difficult time even testing all the workers at the nursing home in Washington where 11 people died.[2] [1] https://news.sky.com/story/coronavirus-south-korea-uses-…
I think part of it may be intentional. No matter what, and the end, you will get accurate numbers for death, and there's not much that can be done for viral infections, other than cancelling large events and other means of transmission. Some can't be avoided though (elections are happening in the US). Could the CDC intentionally be avoiding increasing testing to avoid panic? If the numbers are to be believed, no matt…
No, the CDC created a defective first kit, delaying EFFECTIVE national testing a month. Congress should investigate the reason for this failure. We'd be far ahead if we bought test from Germany or Korea.
NPR had a story about genomics lab that repurposed some of it research equipment to provide some testing resources. Apparently about 70 other labs, including Gate's, did similar and provide backup resources. But a month delay seriously damaged the US response.
Re: Gates Foundation program will issue home testing kits for Covid 19 in Seattle
#135Earlier quoted context omitted.
I think part of it may be intentional. No matter what, and the end, you will get accurate numbers for death, and there's not much that can be done for viral infections, other than cancelling large events and other means of transmission. Some can't be avoided though (elections are happening in the US). Could the CDC intentionally be avoiding increasing testing to avoid panic? If the numbers are to be believed, no matt…
> there's not much that can be done for viral infections There is a ton of research suggesting it's possible to reduce your risk of death by like 99%. There was metastudy on the front page of HN a couple days ago suggesting that vitamin D3 alone can reduce your risk of death by like 50% for those who are otherwise deficient. The most recent Cochrane review on Vitamin C suggests that that alone can reduce your risk of…
lots of fake news out there
Re: Gates Foundation program will issue home testing kits for Covid 19 in Seattle
#136Earlier quoted context omitted.
What the parent is referencing is the Republican strategy to defund government services, and then point to how ineffective they are, thus providing justification for privatization. https://arstechnica.com/science/2020/02/amid-coronavirus-out...
Except these agencies have never had so much funding as they do now. Its hard to put a finger on exactly why they seem entirely incapable of fulfilling their central mission during this crisis. Why were the test kits botched? Why was testing so artificially limited? Why do the primers seem poorly designed? Why does the contact tracing seem to be so behind the ball? Etc. I think political finger pointing is easy and m…
> never had so much funding as they do now.
"Now" is the operative word.
You can't just put a government agency in cold storage and thaw it out when you need it. If the budget and leadership get slashed (as they were in 2018), people move on, hard-won lessons get forgotten, and they take a while to get back.
If this happens repeatedly, you lose the ability to attract talented people for a long time.
Re: Gates Foundation program will issue home testing kits for Covid 19 in Seattle
#137What’s the point of testing? There is no treatment. So knowing you have it or not is pointless. If you have it, and it’s serious, you’ll seek medical attention regardless of whether you know it or not. When you see the ridiculous on hand sanitizer and toilet paper, even if there was an over the counter version, you wouldn’t be able to find one in the store.
"Whats the point of testing if you are a healthy 20 year old caring with 85 year olds" This sums up the silicon valley mindset for EVERYTHING. If you find it hard to understand what I am meaning the be worried.
So you’re just going to test yourself constantly?
If you experience symptoms for any illness and you care for seniors, you should remove yourself from care.
No need to test.
Re: Gates Foundation program will issue home testing kits for Covid 19 in Seattle
#138Earlier quoted context omitted.
What the parent is referencing is the Republican strategy to defund government services, and then point to how ineffective they are, thus providing justification for privatization. https://arstechnica.com/science/2020/02/amid-coronavirus-out...
Except these agencies have never had so much funding as they do now. Its hard to put a finger on exactly why they seem entirely incapable of fulfilling their central mission during this crisis. Why were the test kits botched? Why was testing so artificially limited? Why do the primers seem poorly designed? Why does the contact tracing seem to be so behind the ball? Etc. I think political finger pointing is easy and m…
Politico has a good piece[1], but with no real answers.
But neither the CDC nor the coronavirus task force chaired by Vice President Mike Pence would say who made the decision to forgo the WHO test and instead begin a protracted process of producing an American test, one that got delayed by manufacturing problems, possible lab contamination and logistical delays.
This seems to give some kind of explanation of what was going on:
But there were additional problems with the administration’s approach to testing, according to experts and former officials. From the start, the White House focused on containment, trusting that a limited ban on travel to and from China could somehow force a fast-moving virus to stop cold when it hit the Chinese border. But, while containment might have helped buy the U.S. some time, without aggressive domestic surveillance through testing, it was an incomplete strategy.
Except that doesn't really explain why the CDC didn't do it's job. Surely the White House wasn't actively stopping disease surveillance?
[1] https://www.politico.com/news/2020/03/06/coronavirus-testing...
Re: Gates Foundation program will issue home testing kits for Covid 19 in Seattle
#139What’s the point of testing? There is no treatment. So knowing you have it or not is pointless. If you have it, and it’s serious, you’ll seek medical attention regardless of whether you know it or not. When you see the ridiculous on hand sanitizer and toilet paper, even if there was an over the counter version, you wouldn’t be able to find one in the store.
If I have it, I know to self-quarantine. That's useful to me because I don't want to infect people. Listen, normally, questions like this are useful but this one is obvious.
If you experience symptoms you should self quarantine. If the test comes back negative, you’ll just keep testing yourself until you find out you have it?
Re: Gates Foundation program will issue home testing kits for Covid 19 in Seattle
#140Numerous articles about $4000 fees if test done at ER.
https://www.commondreams.org/news/2020/03/02/why-are-we-bein...
The new fed law and my state make the test itself free, but dont address the high service charge at some medical centers. Sick people might be reluctant to test as early as they should.