
Show HN: A Covid-19 testing location site that a group of us are building - AndrewKemendo
https://findcovidtesting.com/
======
AndrewKemendo
Hi, HN: We saw a need for a site that people could find Covid-19 test
locations, so a group of us developers and medical professionals decided to
build one. Here's the Ask HN that started the ball rolling a week ago:
[https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=22577979](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=22577979)

Over the last week DataDrivenMD and I were able to pull together 15 developers
to get this out. The speed that we were able to cobble together a team that
can work smoothly, 100% remotely from all different organizations has been
amazing. The crisis action team for the state of CA has reached out to see if
they can collaborate with us, and we’re doing our best to understand how to
work with state and local governments going forward.

Thanks to the fantastic volunteers, we have we were able to refactor early,
away from the junk front end I built, to something that we can actually scale
on the front and back end. We’re currently struggling with how to scale our
collection and updating of test locations as they spring up, and we hope to
build an application to allow providers to submit their locations on their
own. Right now that whole process is manual, based on manually
scraping/validating locations that are publicly stating they are doing
testing. If infrastructure existed to identify places that are testing, we
would be using it, but it doesn’t as far as we know, so we’re building the
communication infrastructure for these test sites as it starts forming.

We’re US only right now but if we can get to a scalable way to collect test
location data we can be worldwide.

This is a 100% volunteer effort explicitly for public good. We will not
monetize the site, sell access to any resources we have, or in any way
monetarily or personally benefit from this project, we have no plans to
continue as a group any longer than we need to. No single organization is
sponsoring this, and we have credits from GCP and AWS to run our
infrastructure so Jorge and I don't go broke!

Please help us: Post in this thread any feedback, suggestions for scaling how
we source and verify testing location data (manual currently), or anything you
think useful! We’ll be monitoring the thread.

Our code is 100% FOSS:
[https://github.com/codersagainstcovidorg/covid19testing-
map](https://github.com/codersagainstcovidorg/covid19testing-map). We're
available at @findcovidtest on twitter and contact@codersagainstcovid.org.
Thanks!

~~~
thesis
Pretty neat seeing which states have the most testing locations. I'm pretty
sure Houston has a few testing locations, but nothing is showing up on the map
for me currently.

Just some feedback, this runs pretty slowly for me on my laptop. Is the full
screen map necessary? Might be nice to have a Google Maps feel where it has
the list on the side of the locations currently in view

~~~
testplzignore
Echoing what was said about running slowly. On mobile Chrome it is slow but
usable. On mobile Firefox it is too slow/janky to use. I appreciate the effort
that has gone into this, but I do think it would be good to have an
alternative non-map interface without the heavy js. Or figure out how to
improve the performance, though that might require swapping out mapbox
entirely.

------
souterrain
New York City is rationing testing as a measure of lowering healthcare worker
exposure and reducing use of limited personal protective equipment supplies.

"If you think you have COVID-19 and your illness is mild, you do not need to
see your health care provider and you will not be tested. Getting tested will
not change what your provider will tell you to do to get better. They will
tell you to stay home so you do not get others sick.

Unless you are hospitalized and a diagnosis will impact your care, you will
not be tested. Limiting testing protects health care workers and saves
essential medical supplies, such as masks and gloves, that are in short
supply."

[https://www1.nyc.gov/site/doh/health/health-
topics/coronavir...](https://www1.nyc.gov/site/doh/health/health-
topics/coronavirus.page)

~~~
epistasis
It is absolutely insane that we are so limited in this capacity, months after
we knew we would need it. It is so limited and dire that we are barely able to
provide for our own healthcare workers.

I really hope that after this is over, we have the political strength to
diagnose the problems and deal with them. However I fear that the current
regime will prevent any such correction because of fear that they could
blamed, and the extreme dictator-like narcissism that prevents any corrections
because it would mean admitting imperfection.

~~~
ghufran_syed
So how long _should_ it take to be able to create a _reliable_ , sensitive and
specific test , and then produce _millions_ of such tests, for a virus which
_didn 't exist_ in humans until 3-4 months ago?

~~~
jclulow
I dunno, how long did it take in South Korea?

~~~
nprz
South Korea and the US found their first covid positive case on the same
day[0]. I can't understand how the richest nation in the world failed this
hard at containing and controlling covid.

[0][https://www.reuters.com/article/us-health-coronavirus-
testin...](https://www.reuters.com/article/us-health-coronavirus-testing-
specialrep/special-report-how-korea-trounced-u-s-in-race-to-test-people-for-
coronavirus-idUSKBN2153BW)

~~~
chrisco255
If you look at South Korea's population, they have 1/7th the pop of the United
States but yet have 1/3rd the number of deaths. They are doing almost twice as
bad as the U.S. in terms of deaths per million people.

~~~
raphlinus
There are so many ways to slice the raw data, each giving a different sound of
how alarming it is. For example, if you look at just Washington state, it has
roughly the same number of deaths of South Korea, with one seventh the
population.

------
40four
Slow clap ...

This is amazing. Thank guys so much for building something like this. Rapidly
building up access to, and information on testing sites is one of the most
important things we can do right now.

Our leadership (in the USA) certainly isn’t doing it. I feel like anytime I
say we should follow the example of countries who focused on testing, I’m
immediately rebuffed with talking points, excuses why it won’t work, or why we
should just hide in our house for an undetermined amount of time.

This is one of the best Covid-19 related projects I’ve seen come across the
front page. You guys identified one of the most pressing problems, and figured
out how to get it done.

Thank you so much!

~~~
pnw_hazor
SK reformed their entire pandemic response in 2015. They were better prepared
for Covid-19 because they were better prepared.

[https://www.propublica.org/article/how-south-korea-scaled-
co...](https://www.propublica.org/article/how-south-korea-scaled-coronavirus-
testing-while-the-us-fell-dangerously-behind)

~~~
nerdponx
But that's the point. Why wasn't the US prepared?

------
cavisne
Nice!

I was pleasantly surprised that there is a testing centre 3 blocks from my
apartment (i don't know where else I could have found this information).

I also really like this "Unless you are explicitly told otherwise, you MUST
complete your self-isolation period - even if your test result is negative for
COVID-19." I'm quite concerned by hypochondriac's and general attention
seekers spamming the test system, being forced to self-isolate regardless is a
perfect deterrent.

------
oggy
Thank you for the work on this.

I have a tangentially related question, hoping that someone knowledgeable can
answer. What are the main bottlenecks to scaling testing, in particular in the
following stages:

\- the supply of virus-specific reagents (primers, perhaps virus-specific
reporting probes - are these necessary, or can just generic reporters be
used?)

\- the supply of other reagents (in case of PCR, polymerase, nucleotide
material, buffer)

\- the supply of disposable testing equipment. I know that swabs are in short
supply for some reason, anything else?

\- safety in handling both the samples and the amplified product (can you
basically flush the processed sample down the toilet, or do you need to handle
it with extreme precautions)

~~~
DataDrivenMD
Short answer: they have all been bottlenecks thus far. In fact, that's a big
reason why testing hasn't improved as rapidly as everyone hoped it would. The
biggest bottleneck now is dwindling supplies of personal protective equipment
(PPE) for those involved in obtaining and handling the test specimens.

------
samfisher83
Some places they are not revealing the location of the testing as they are
getting overwhelmed.

------
cachvico
I this this may be doing more harm than good. The test centers are a stretched
resource at the moment.

People need to call their local non-emergency line for instructions if they
have symptoms.

This map is incomplete by your own admission, which makes it practically
misinformation.

We don't need guerrilla tactics in this war.

------
ycf00f
Please make sure to publicize and somehow show evidence that you're NOT that
other site: Oscar Health's "free covid19 risk assessment" & testing locator.

Oscar was started by Jared K, (tRUMP's S-I-L). Visitors of their site (at
hioscar-dot-com-slash-covid19) are given a "free" assessment and referral to a
testing center. So far so good, right?

In the back end, a "service fee" is charged to the Fed Govt for each person
that uses the system. Being that Jared's in the family, there's no doubt that
Oscar will get paid everything it asks for.

------
keithnz
Out of interest

In the US, how much help is testing now other than to sample the population to
get an idea of the spread?

Would it not be more interesting to know how well people are self isolating?
Finding out where the message isn't getting through?

------
ThomPete
This is amazing work.

But please don't just go there to check if you have corona unless you have
some of the symptoms. Otherwise you are going to flood the already strained
system.

------
LaFolle
Really appreciate this guys!

cmiiw, by default the website shows locations which are not public health
agencies and "checks patients for symptoms" and if we want to see all
locations which provide COVID-19 testing we need to enable (toggle) radio
button "Offers COVID-19 testing" in filter which is present in flyout at top
left corner. Correct?

~~~
DataDrivenMD
We were careful not to assume that all public health departments would engage
in testing. We manually verified the information, and for those public health
agencies that explicitly indicated on their websites or through direct
channels that they offered testing we marked them as "offers COVID-19
testing".

That being said, there are many areas of the country where the local, county,
and state health departments effectively function as gatekeepers. In those
communities, people have no choice but to call their health department and
hope for the best. If they meet testing criteria, then they are referred to a
testing location or fast-tracked through an existing healthcare provider’s
queue.

If nothing else, this site crystallizes the fuzzy image that we all had in
mind with respect to testing capacity. The situation is changing all the time,
and we expect things to get better. You can help by raising awareness, and
asking people you know in the Midwest and Southern states to visit our site
and share their on-the-ground knowledge of the situation.

------
pkalinowski
Nice! He're in Poland government _forbids_ taking virus tests. Private
companies have plenty of them, but are unable to even give them to hospitals.
Ministry of Health forbids hospitals from taking more than X tests per day, so
even if somebody has symptoms they need to wait till morning among other
patients.

~~~
mkl
What is the logic behind that?

~~~
pkalinowski
Propaganda. No tests = no virus

------
soared
Why not just make a google map with pins?

------
toohotatopic
How about collecting the price of the test, the expected waiting time and the
type of the test?

When I need to be tested, I don't want to phone several providers but I want
to find the closest free slot for a test that suits my needs. E.g. if I don't
have symptoms, I cannot use an antibody test.

------
dumbfounder
Try to get the attention of these guys:
[https://www.mercatus.org/features/mercatus-launches-prize-
fu...](https://www.mercatus.org/features/mercatus-launches-prize-fund-combat-
covid-19)

------
azernik
Thanks so much for putting this together!

It is insane that this is not being done by the government, and that it's left
to random coders to throw this together in their free time.

------
idreyn
Clicking to zoom is giving me a React-style white screen of death and the
error "bearing is required for transition". FF/Chrome latest, macOS 10.14.6

------
bathtub365
People should be following the instructions of the health authority in their
area instead of blindly going to a testing location they see on this website.

------
forkexec
Wasn't Verily supposed to do this, or are they moving too slowly?

Edit: This item's page doesn't work on iPad. After three seconds, the page
freezes.

------
squidarth
Hey, this is awesome! Just a heads up that Greenwich, CT is labeled as Los
Angeles on the map, not sure if other cities are mislabeled too.

------
oyebenny
We need updates on Georgia's (USA) sites bad. Thank you for doing all this.

~~~
DataDrivenMD
Also want to share that you're not imagining things: best we can tell, those
living in Georgia have very few options beyond their health department. Even
Emory is limited in its capacity - last I heard they were hoping to be able to
get to 400 tests/day by this weekend. We'll add Emory to the site soon. Even
so, I encourage those who live in Georgia to share their insight with us by
adding testing locations so that we can help others in their community.

We will also continue to research and update the site as new options become
available - including home-based testing. We've already heard from a couple of
companies in this space, but we're waiting for them to provide us with proof
that their test is FDA validated and approved. Once they do that, we'll add
their information to the site as well.

------
droidist2
Surprised Alaska has so many! Is there a reason there's so many there?

------
pjc50
Please check what your local medical advice is on whether you should be
getting tested; very few places have surplus testing capacity for the "worried
well", so you may be taking it from somewhere it's needed.

~~~
maxerickson
Most places won't run a test for people that don't meet the criteria.

Which I hope the makers here are thinking about how people will behave. I
would be tempted to only show places that were basically testing anyone on a
map and then provide per state/jurisdiction information about figuring out
whether it's worth going somewhere otherwise.

Figuring out where to go to provide a sample is the easy part.

~~~
dillonmckay
The road to hell is paved with good intentions.

This idea seems like it would only be useful when coupled w a screening app
that asks questions, give your temp and O2 oximeter reading, then provide
locations, but even then, each county of each state has a completely different
protocol for scheduling.

~~~
LaFolle
Seems we do have a screening app online
[https://www.screencovid.org/](https://www.screencovid.org/).

[https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=22649822](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=22649822)

~~~
dillonmckay
Now, couple that with this, and get a bunch of volunteers to work the phones
and keep it updated by county, and then it is useful.

~~~
AndrewKemendo
We just started working with Todd. Thanks!

------
certifiedloud
Is there raw data available somewhere?

~~~
DataDrivenMD
Yes - all over the place. That was the biggest challenge: sourcing and
validating the data. It's also why this is and will continue to be a work in
progress: the situation on the ground is dynamic. We need help sourcing and
validating data. If you're willing to volunteer, send a note to
contact@codersagainstcovid.org

------
sjg007
Sweet Google map.

