Muh Muh Muh My Corona (virus)

I finally got the test. Because I was in contact with people who tested positive, my doctor was able to order a test and I was able to get in with the hospital with which he's affiliated.

 

I've been tested every week for about 15 weeks, through the university I work for. All free and easy. Until today, all nasal swabs. Today was the first spit test.

 

Everyone clamors for free-market solutions... so why hasn’t the free market solved the testing problem? I’m not trolling, it’s a legit question.

 

It kinda halfway did. We do a shit-ton of testing. It’s just not always as convenient as I wish it was

 

There's a lot of testing, but it's not convenient. True nationwide testing should be as simple as getting a flu test at a doctor's office or clinic - you do the test, you get results in 15 minutes.

Instead, we're at the stage where it still takes at least 24-48 hours for a result, and often much longer. For a disease that spreads this easily, that gap between test and result is way too large. The problem with simply ordering more tests is the labs are overwhelmed and can't get results fast enough.

So how do you ease the burden on the labs? At home test kits would help, but the current ones available are all $100+ and still require offsite lab work that takes time. More test kits are going to be available soon for under $50, but it will take time to scale production and deliver to stores.

So, why hasn't the free market helped? Companies either don't want to or can't afford the production scale up to mass produce tests and have the labs available to do them. That's where the federal government should've stepped in months ago and helped scale up testing and production.

 

This is a point people don't often get. One of the federal government's most important policy tools, maybe the most important, is that it is America's Best Customer. It can deliver orders that guarantee massive profits on delivery or even before. Or so Lockheed Martin tells me.

 

Ever heard of the FDA? Paper strip tests that should cost about $5 have been around for months, but the FDA got in the way by demanding an unrealistic level of accuracy (i.e., they have to compare to PCR tests). Now some such have been approved, but the FDA is requiring "virtual MD" oversight of their administration (costing more $$$).

Rapid Tests - Marginal REVOLUTION

 

In a general sense, there are two different major factors. One is that any lab test is judged by diagnostic sensitivity, specificity, and accuracy - that is, how low a threshold does it require to show a positive, and how likely it is to show a false positive because it is so sensitive, how accurate is it overall in general use. Generally, the better the test is, the more it costs and the less likely it is to be an over the counter test that any layman can self administer. You also get into money, in that insurance companies prefer to pay for cheaper tests, given an option.

Bottom line, there is still a somewhat limited supply and high demand. It's not as simple as "They need to put out a test that...". Even simple CLIA waived test kits for flu and strep require that the person administering them run controls, test solutions that are verified positive and negative, which you use to verify that the tests are functioning properly before you start using them. That isn't all that hard, but I have learned the hard way that there are a lot of people who can't read and follow even simple instructions.

 

That's the first rule of bureaucracy. It's more important to have a rule to go by than whether the rule actually makes any sense.

 

If you want to feel like a brainless lump of carbon, try reading and understanding even translated-for-laymen descriptions of how, e.g., the Abbott rapid test works ...

https://blogs.sciencemag.org/pipeli...ghts-on-a-new-coronavirus-test-and-on-testing