
In one Italian town, we showed mass testing could eradicate the coronavirus - notlukesky
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2020/mar/20/eradicated-coronavirus-mass-testing-covid-19-italy-vo
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narogab
I don't see how this could work unless you cordon off populations, test them
and _keep_ them isolated from each other. Even then you would have to
sterilize goods that passed between isolated groups. That may work for cows if
you have enough barns and fences but definitely is impossible for humans.

I believe that we must be practical and treat based on symptoms. The oft-
sought but elusive "test" is a mirage sought by medical researchers that would
be nice but is not practical given today's technology and the limitations of
human behavior. Besides the test is generally simply not available.

I'll be surprised if the italian towns' quarantines hold.

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notlukesky
Mass testing seems to have worked. From the article:

“Nonetheless, asymptomatic or quasi-symptomatic subjects represent a good 70%
of all virus-infected people and, still worse, an unknown, yet impossible to
ignore portion of them can transmit the virus to others. Full testing would
give us a clearer picture of how many people actually have the virus, and how
many pass it on.“

