So, I have a plan to end the epidemic. It's radical, out-there, you'll bristle at my suggestions but listen, then decide. What if we asked everyone to wear masks? Gave them out like free candy (or condoms at a gay bar)? 1/

Then what if we scaled-up antigen testing in our communities so that everyone was being tested at least 1X every week and for anyone who turned out to be +, we gave them a subsidy to stay home for 10 days or a free hotel room to do so if they were homeless? 2/

What if we made a special emphasis on communities already hard hit by the epidemic? Community of color? Vulnerable populations such as the homeless, prisoners, those working in meatpacking plants and warehouses? 3/

I know, I know I'm testing your patience. Just hear me out. Please, it's crazy I know, but I swear it might work. 4/

What about making sure every school in America could test its students, teachers and staff 2x a week, had plexiglass shielding, N-95s for teachers and we took over empty hotel ballrooms and other now-unused spaces to keep people farther apart if classrooms were too crowded? 5/

What if with all this testing and active surveillance we could target closures when we saw outbreaks instead of just blanket across-the-board ones? Please don't get angry at me. 6/

Now, I am going to get even more wild. What if we didn't extend unemployment benefits, but gave companies subsidies to re-hire/keep their staff and gave a pandemic grant to others to allow them to pay their bills, buy groceries, etc? 7/

More crazy stuff. What if in addition to contact tracers, we hired a million community health workers to go out and check on people with chronic conditions like diabetes to make sure they had their insulin, help people negotiate with landlords on rent, etc. 8/

What if we told those who run nursing homes that they will not be shielded from liability for outbreaks in their facilities and we had regular monitoring of conditions there, organized safe ways for families to see their loved ones? 9/

Now, I am truly going on a limb, and you're gonna come down on me like a ton of bricks. What if we took mental health seriously and figured out a way to establish a nationwide network of tele-mental-health and social distanced in-person consultations? I know, wild. Sorry. 10/

And what if we created a national clinical trials platform so that everyone who tried a new drug would be helping to build knowledge about the agent, rather than hyping the latest cure-du-jour? I know. I know. I'll stop it. 11/

And ventilation systems? What's up with that? Can't we simply retro-fit ventilation systems to ensure the air we breathe this winter is filtered from viral particles? I know pie-in-the-sky thinking, couldn't happen now. 12/

Sorry all. I know all these things are fantasies. No one could possibly do any of them. Too hard. Too expensive. 13/

I mean my grandparents' generation defeated fascism, my parents' generation put a man on the moon, but we're done with all that right? I know I know, stop rising to challenges. Think small. Give in. Give up. end/

BTW this is satire. It's also about minimizing transmission (H/T @BallouxFrancois), while addressing other health, economic & social threats. Ending #SARSCoV2 will take a vaccine. We've got to rise to a generational challenge now. Don't give up. And all ideas are those of others.