Covid Testing

Screen grab from the movie “Total Recall”

Most people who have coronavirus:

• Won’t be tested
• Won’t count towards the “confirmed cases”
• Won’t qualify for testing under the current testing regime (traveled out of the country over past 14 days, frontline medical worker, close contact with someone who’s traveled)

They might know they’re sick but won’t know if it’s Covid-19 or something else. They won’t know if they’ve already had it or if it’s something ahead of them.

More than a nose swab, we need a massive, cheap, and quick antibody test. We probably need to do both. The nasal one for whether the person is sick now and the blood for whether they were sick in the past and potentially have some resistance. Test positive for the antibodies but not for the nasal test? You’re good to go. This is something that we need to think about across borders — like a global fund for developing this testing.