Gates Foundation to help with coronavirus testing in Seattle

[Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin]

SEATTLE — The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation has announced it will begin offering home-testing kits for people in the Seattle area for the new coronavirus in the coming weeks.

The Seattle Times reports in a story on Sunday that it’s not clear when the project will launch, but it’s ramping up as quickly as possible. Seattle has become the epicenter of the coronavirus outbreak in the United States, with 14 deaths linked to a Seattle-area nursing home.

People who think they’ve been infected can fill out a questionnaire online and request a test kit if their symptoms are consistent with the illness the virus causes. The kits will be delivered within two hours and include nose swabs.

The samples will be sent to a lab at the University of Washington for testing, and results should be available in a few days. The home-testing kits mean people won’t have to go to a doctor’s office and possibly infect other people.

https://www.heraldnet.com/northwest/gates-foundation-to-help-with-coronavirus-testing-in-seattle/

Now watch some Repukes say this shows how the private sector can handle this better than the government.

To me it's not a case of private vs. government but rather those who have the competence are the ones who will solve the problem.

The Republicans in the Federal government are poster children for incompetence.

[Liberal In Texas]

1. Was just reading about this elsewhere. Seems like a very good idea.

Gates-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.

The goal is to eventually be able to process 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 it’s 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 there’s a lot to be worked out, this has enormous potential to turn the tide of the epidemic,” Dowell said.

And I don't see any reason that the gov't. couldn't be doing this as well.

https://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/health/gates-funded-program-will-soon-offer-home-testing-kits-for-new-coronavirus/

[Claritie Pixie]

2. Excellent. They may need to expand if our govt can't get it together.