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I was on @CNN today talking about how we STILL don't have adequate testing or turn-around times in many places, and it got me thinking about how much I've shouted into the wind about testing over the past months. / An infinite scream testing #thread.
The first week in March. Oregon's first case had been diagnosed the week before. We had capacity for about 40 tests per day. For the WHOLE STATE. Chilling, right? This is when healthcare workers knew we were not going to be on top of this pandemic. https://twitter.com/choo_ek/status/1236129008468672512?s=20
A week later, things had not changed. We were using VERY restrictive testing criteria. People everywhere had symptoms c/w Covid & were frustrated at healthcare workers - but we had few tests and no timeline for getting more. It was astounding, terrifying. https://twitter.com/choo_ek/status/1238216221071273984?s=20
I could not stop thinking about it. Because without testing, we couldn't isolate. Without isolating, we couldn't stop it. Without testing, we didn't know the extent of it. https://twitter.com/choo_ek/status/1238260384303394817?s=20
The lost opportunities in Feb were becoming glaringly obvious. That week stands out as a nightmare of dread ... the PPE shortages also emerged around that time. https://twitter.com/choo_ek/status/1238216760244891648?s=20
The other thing that was quickly becoming clear was that... well, I'll just say, the cavalry was not coming. There was no cavalry. https://twitter.com/choo_ek/status/1238564520399794176?s=20
It was so painful watching other countries incorporate aggressive testing, isolation, contact tracing while we tinkered around with a handful of tests. To date, South Korea (pop: 51 mill) has had 295 Covid deaths. https://twitter.com/choo_ek/status/1239395723793149952?s=20
Oh God, forgot this thread from March 12th also. I was off my rocker about testing on that day. In a fully justified way, though, wouldn't you say?
I was over the testing fail by early April.
JK, I'll never get over it. We were in full lockdown and I raged about it to @TEDTalks: https://twitter.com/TEDTalks/status/1247970665573089282?s=20
JK, I'll never get over it. We were in full lockdown and I raged about it to @TEDTalks: https://twitter.com/TEDTalks/status/1247970665573089282?s=20
By mid-April conversation was turning incesssantly to re-opening. But not only were cases not going down in many places, testing capacity, after increasing for a while, had plateaued. And re-opening strategies were supposed to include aggressive testing. https://twitter.com/choo_ek/status/1250855968260231173?s=20
That last point, how safe re-opening was dependent on tests - accessible, plentiful, rapid turn-around tests - was so hard to convey. https://twitter.com/choo_ek/status/1251333165282516993
Hahaha I just like this testing tweet: https://twitter.com/choo_ek/status/1251589754891587585?s=20
May 2. Another month, same sentiment. Even as states moved ahead with reopening plans, expanding testing capacity was limited by deficiencies at every level: supplies, equipment, staff, PPE for staff.
(Around this time, you could see, even on Twitter, the inequities. Some people were like "we're testing everyone all the time!" while others were like "whaaaa-" Without a centralized, coordinated process, testing was going where the money was.)
People were angry about stay at home orders, angry at the public health folks saying we were simply not in a position to open. We were in the upsetting position of being the messenger when we'd fought so hard to not get there in the first place https://twitter.com/choo_ek/status/1257226467089412096?s=20
Well, states reopened, flash forward to June and cases are on the rise. Ppl tried to blame it on more testing. And the president was feeling bummed not about the case rate, but that by testing more, we were detecting disease and making him look bad. https://twitter.com/choo_ek/status/1275522205590290432?s=20
The attempt to paint testing - the first and most utter failure of our pandemic response - as something that we were at risk of overdoing was simply precious https://twitter.com/choo_ek/status/1275574933884596224?s=20
Climbing #s even where tests had plateaued and climbing hospital census in hot spots... No, it wasn't just about testing and in fact, high positive %s indicated that in fact... we were still not testing enough! https://twitter.com/choo_ek/status/1276658743791386625?s=20
It's not just about getting the q-tip up the nose, to be clear. It's getting the test result back in an actionable time period for hospital triage and emergency surgery, and so people can make decisions that relate to their work or living situation, etc. https://twitter.com/choo_ek/status/1280681711404122112?s=20
To sum up: the sustained absence of sufficient testing in the U.S. was and is a massive, costly, tragic failure
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┻┳| •.•) it's July! Can you believe
┳┻|⊂ﾉ we STILL need more testing?
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┻┳| •.•) it's July! Can you believe
┳┻|⊂ﾉ we STILL need more testing?
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I guess we’ll just keep talking about it. Because there’s every indication that our testing problem isn’t going anywhere: http://www.washingtonpost.com/us-policy/2020/07/18/white-house-testing-budget-cdc-coronavirus/%3foutputType=amp
