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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsDevelopment of home tests for novel corona virus funded by Bill Gates Foundation:
https://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/health/gates-funded-program-will-soon-offer-home-testing-kits-for-new-coronavirus/?amp=1&__twitter_impression=trueGates-funded program will soon offer home-testing kits for new coronavirus
Testing for the novel coronavirus in the Seattle area will get a huge boost in the coming weeks as a project funded by Bill Gates and his foundation begins offering home-testing kits that will allow people who fear they may be infected to swab their noses and send the samples back for analysis.
Results, which should be available in one to two days, will be shared with local health officials who will notify those who test positive. Via online forms, infected people can answer questions about their movements and contacts, making it easier for health officials to locate others who may need to be tested or quarantined, as well as to track the virus spread and identify possible hot spots.
Initially, the lab will be able to conduct about 400 tests a day, eventually expanding to thousands of tests a day, said Scott Dowell, leader of coronavirus response at the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. The project is ramping up as quickly as possible, but its not clear exactly when it will launch, he added. Among other things, software needs to be upgraded to handle the expected crush of requests, and a detailed questionnaire finalized for people who request tests.
Although theres a lot to be worked out, this has enormous potential to turn the tide of the epidemic, Dowell said.
snip
Testing for the novel coronavirus in the Seattle area will get a huge boost in the coming weeks as a project funded by Bill Gates and his foundation begins offering home-testing kits that will allow people who fear they may be infected to swab their noses and send the samples back for analysis.
Results, which should be available in one to two days, will be shared with local health officials who will notify those who test positive. Via online forms, infected people can answer questions about their movements and contacts, making it easier for health officials to locate others who may need to be tested or quarantined, as well as to track the virus spread and identify possible hot spots.
Initially, the lab will be able to conduct about 400 tests a day, eventually expanding to thousands of tests a day, said Scott Dowell, leader of coronavirus response at the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. The project is ramping up as quickly as possible, but its not clear exactly when it will launch, he added. Among other things, software needs to be upgraded to handle the expected crush of requests, and a detailed questionnaire finalized for people who request tests.
Although theres a lot to be worked out, this has enormous potential to turn the tide of the epidemic, Dowell said.
snip
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Development of home tests for novel corona virus funded by Bill Gates Foundation: (Original Post)
tblue37
Mar 2020
OP
PoliticAverse
(26,366 posts)1. You really don't want to get the blue screen of death! n/t
newblewtoo
(667 posts)2. Um, is it really a good idea to be
sending samples of a virus in the mail? I mean what could possibly go wrong.
tblue37
(65,340 posts)3. That's what they were doing anyway when every sample had to be sent back to
the CDC for analysis, creating a bottleneck.