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Several Western nations are ramping up capacity to test for #coronavirus, learning lessons from Asia and hoping that quickly isolating more carriers could halt the spread and help lift the lockdowns to restart their economies. #COVIDー19 @WSJ https://www.wsj.com/articles/some-nations-look-to-mass-testing-for-faster-way-out-of-coronavirus-crisis-11585758518
Germany has conducted nearly *1 million* #coronavirus tests, the highest number of any western nation. It is testing up to 500k ppl a week, but government advisers recommended that this capacity be raised to up to 200,000 tests a day #COVIDー19 @WSJ https://www.wsj.com/articles/some-nations-look-to-mass-testing-for-faster-way-out-of-coronavirus-crisis-11585758518?shareToken=st74c822fd39104cb48e8bc69fd6b4b5ae
“By far the most important measure against a virus such as #SARS_COV_2 is testing and isolating of the infected persons,” a report commissioned by the Berlin government said, referring to #coronavirus. #COVIDー19 @WSJ https://www.wsj.com/articles/some-nations-look-to-mass-testing-for-faster-way-out-of-coronavirus-crisis-11585758518?shareToken=stf25c6017de3d4c9f9b215a9aab2eaeb9
Relying only on lockdowns without extensive testing is like fighting a fire blindfolded, said @DrTedros Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, head of the @WHO. "Test, test, test," he said. @WSJ #COVIDー19 https://www.wsj.com/articles/some-nations-look-to-mass-testing-for-faster-way-out-of-coronavirus-crisis-11585758518?shareToken=stf25c6017de3d4c9f9b215a9aab2eaeb9
#Iceland is a world-leader: it tested ~5% of its population and avoided lockdowns. About 50% of virus carriers had no symptoms but could still infect others. These were swiftly quarantined along with people with whom they had close contact #COVID19 @WSJ https://www.wsj.com/articles/some-nations-look-to-mass-testing-for-faster-way-out-of-coronavirus-crisis-11585758518?shareToken=stf25c6017de3d4c9f9b215a9aab2eaeb9
Iceland also has a great dashboard and clean, transparent data that gets updated daily https://www.covid.is/data
South Korea was able to quickly slow its infection rate with the help of mass testing at hospitals, clinics, drive-through & walk-through sites. Singapore & Taiwan traced/tested those who came close to infected people, in part by using mobile phone data https://www.wsj.com/articles/some-nations-look-to-mass-testing-for-faster-way-out-of-coronavirus-crisis-11585758518?shareToken=stf25c6017de3d4c9f9b215a9aab2eaeb9
There is concern about the willingness of people in Western democracies to accept strict isolation rules in case of infection. Only 63% of Germans said they would go into self-isolation if they were to experience #COVID19 symptoms @WSJ https://www.wsj.com/articles/some-nations-look-to-mass-testing-for-faster-way-out-of-coronavirus-crisis-11585758518?shareToken=stf25c6017de3d4c9f9b215a9aab2eaeb9
Austria & Germany started representative #coronavirus studies week, Britain & Sweden will follow suit.
In Austria, a sample of 2,000 people will be tested by Friday. “This will allow us to see the iceberg,” said chancellor @sebastiankurz @WSJ #COVID19 https://www.wsj.com/articles/some-nations-look-to-mass-testing-for-faster-way-out-of-coronavirus-crisis-11585758518?shareToken=stf25c6017de3d4c9f9b215a9aab2eaeb9
In Austria, a sample of 2,000 people will be tested by Friday. “This will allow us to see the iceberg,” said chancellor @sebastiankurz @WSJ #COVID19 https://www.wsj.com/articles/some-nations-look-to-mass-testing-for-faster-way-out-of-coronavirus-crisis-11585758518?shareToken=stf25c6017de3d4c9f9b215a9aab2eaeb9
Germany, Britain and others are preparing nationwide #COVID19 serology studies. If prior infection confers protection, serology tests could allow people to return to work and participate in public life, charting a path out of paralyzing lockdowns @WSJ https://www.wsj.com/articles/some-nations-look-to-mass-testing-for-faster-way-out-of-coronavirus-crisis-11585758518?shareToken=stf25c6017de3d4c9f9b215a9aab2eaeb9
#Norway boasts the highest per capita #coronavirus testing in continental Europe: 94k people, or ~1.8% of its population. Nations that test a lot, like Iceland, Germany or Norway, have lower #COVID19 death rates @WSJ https://www.wsj.com/articles/some-nations-look-to-mass-testing-for-faster-way-out-of-coronavirus-crisis-11585758518?shareToken=stf25c6017de3d4c9f9b215a9aab2eaeb9
Some nations started testing for #coronavirus very early on; they also have lover #COVID19 death rate (South Korea all but stopped the epidemic) @WSJ https://www.wsj.com/articles/some-nations-look-to-mass-testing-for-faster-way-out-of-coronavirus-crisis-11585758518?shareToken=st0369c7382a5243c8a673aa9ad7302863
