The need for testing to reopen

Well that is kind of what I am asking. Should TX get 29mm tests done, and if so how long will that take? And what is the utility at this point?

Now at the front end of an outbreak I understand the idea of mass testing to isolate and contain. But we are way past that aren't we?

I think some people want everywhere to have a rapid test before you go in.

Basically check everyone, takes 15 minutes, and verify you are not sick.

Won't be long from now before people just say "frick it" and go back to doing what they've always been doing

The constitution gives us our freedom to live life not a stupid spit test.

So if someone is negative with no antibodies do they have to go get infected and then recover before they are allowed back in the game?

If I feel fine I'm not letting a stranger stick something up my nose or inject me with something. I dont get the flu shot either.

The antibody test lets you know what percentage of the population should have some immunity. It lets public health officials decide how many new cases in a given amount of time is a risk for wider spreading and tailor responses better to avoid everyone hiding in their houses every time someone coughs. All things considered, the more immune people you have the harder it is for the virus to find new hosts and the more sick people you need at one time for there to be a risk of it exponentially spreading again. This does not have to test everyone. A statistically random sample will do.

The ongoing infection test is even simpler to understand. If you test positive for ongoing infection, then epidemiologists can begin contact tracing you to identify those likely to be exposed to get them to self-quarantine and head off the spread. This effort doesn't need to be 100% successful to help curtail the spread and the more and more herd immunity we have, the more room for error we have on this front.

I believe the capacity for widespread rapid testing they're talking about means more testing like you have for the flu, not testing everyone constantly. The idea is that you get sick and go to the doctor and know in five minutes if someone needs to be on an isolation protocol and drug regimen instead of knowing a week from now. In addition, you contact trace and give rapid tests to all of those people and follow up regularly with rapid tests for the following two weeks. You can get on top of tracing the spread quickly that way and not have the week delay in test results causing problems. The contagious prodrome period confounds things, but it's just not reasonable to test everyone constantly to try to identify people who might be infected and asymptomatic without any reason to expect they would be infected. It's also not reasonable to expect the people to tolerate that kind of invasiveness.

A five minute office test can work wonders in halting a chain of transmission. Strep's a good example. That shite spreads like a hooker's legs, but we don't test everyone to keep strep is in check. You have a sore throat and your doctor gives you a five minute swab in the office. You get a diagnosis, you get your medicine, and you stay away from other people until you're better. Just being able to know in five minutes and take effective action at that point will work wonders.