Here is a defence of mass testing now from @devisridhar in the @guardian - the key sentence is: "All those who are virus-carriers would be put into a mandatory two-week quarantine in their homes, enforced through tracking and fines." My thoughts follow....../1 https://twitter.com/danielmgmoylan/status/1245070710097264645

We are discussing say 60% of the UK population becoming carriers in a fairly short period (weeks, maybe months). Even if universal testing were possible, who would be able to fit devices (ankle-tags?) to literally tens of millions of people? Who would manufacture them? /2

How many police would be needed to monitor them and issue fines? Who would issue the "passports" allowing those testing negative to roam the streets? And indeed, why would it be the ones who didn't have the virus whom you would le out anyway? /3

What forgery trade would spring up in "virus-free certificates" and how would it be controlled? How often would legitimate certificate-bearers need to be re-tested? How could they go back to work if their passport expired in a week? /4

It doesn't seem to me helpful to say China or S Korea did it (if indeed that is what they did do). In Britain, this is simply (and happily) beyond the competence of the state. A "silver bullet" that depends on a sanction that is so manifestly undeliverable is deeply flawed. /end