UK pilot testing scheme: test everybody in Liverpool once a week

Mass testing in Liverpool, a good idea if we can also get the following right:

How do we deal with:
False positive & false negative results.
Communicating what the results mean, actions & precautions to take.
The considerable logistics deployment
How to test extensively & how often?

The ability to test and test in an instant is welcomed, there has to be concomitant investments in prevention too.

We must not forget testing positive is an indication of an infection already acquired with the consequences that may follow.

We must also invest in prevention strategies, advice, information & interventions to reduce the chances of getting infected.

Prevention is less “high technology” work, but it is important, cheaper & better.

My perfect test would be, sensitive, specific & reliable. A cheap test, about £1 to £5 pounds per use, easy to use, used daily with results in a few minutes. People would test daily, a daily routine.

It would operate as follows: Daily tests and the results may be: negative, negative, negative, positive. On the day it is positive, the person removes themselves from circulation and as they will have only just become positive, their contacts will be few, thus contact tracing becomes easy too.

#technology#logistics#communication#masstesting