The Testing Problem

I would call the problem of the lack o comprehensive virus testing in this country a scandal or criminal negligence by an incompetent administration more focused on staying in power at all cost rather than providing a solution to the spread of the pandemic throughout the nation.

Almost a year into the pandemic and testing is still a problem. There was a time when the president would regularly declare that anyone who wanted a test for the virus could get a test for the virus. That was a bad joke and of course completely untrue if getting tested also meant getting the results in a timely manner.

Back in July Becky and I signed up online to get tested at a drive-thru window at a CVS. We wanted to be tested before going on vacation with Katie and the kids. We had the test done four days before we were to leave. The official time estimate for test results said two days. It took us 13 days before we got the test results back. Fortunately they were negative.

Here it is in December and getting results back from a test can still be a problem although it is supposedly better but it took more than eight months. Testing and knowing who was carrying the virus should have been a high priority in the early spring. Testing and results should have been available instantly and people should have been able to be tested any time they wanted or needed it. For example why couldn't someone get an instant test with results at any pharmacy in the country on any day they wanted how ever many times they wanted. We have the science to do that but there wasn't the political willpower by the administration to do that because for them the more people who tested positive the worse it was perceived by them to win the election. It never occurred to them that aggressively confronting the pandemic would be good for them in the long run. 

Instead they denied the problem, called it a hoax, a media ploy, a made up crises to make trump look bad. As if he needed anyone to help him with that.