DOT Sec Buttigieg: Domestic Testing Being Seriously Considered

"Hey, I've got a great way to absolutely kill domestic travel, and put thousands more people out of work."

Covid isn't something to mess around with. With that said, if it's that scary for you to get Covid, STAY THE F*** HOME!

I'm willing to bet that there's far more people who've had it than most realize. Seems like as time goes on, the "I've had it, it wasn't that bad" stories are growing more than I expected.
 
ILS37R said:
Nothing really to base a strong opinion on here. No details, no plans.

So... I guess I support DoT "considering" domestic testing because they should be considering all options for containing the pandemic and ensuring a safe travel environment. Hard to know if something is a good idea or not if you don't seriously consider it. Get back to me when there's a plan. Or when they say, "We considered it and rejected the idea due to X, Y, and Z."

My gut feeling is that any version of domestic testing is too little, too late, for the current outbreak. Policy process, rollout, vendor and consumer education; by the time that's all ready the facts on the ground should be very different. But, by the same token, going through the policy process--even for something that ultimately isn't used--would be a productive exercise in preparation for future pandemics.

...or in case the global community has screwed up this pandemic response so badly that a novel variant is already lurking and ready to hit the reset button on everything.
Click to expand...

Sure would have been nice to have had a coordinated national response early on wouldn't it.
 
KLB said:
This is kind of what my little operation has already been doing. Everyone gets tested prior to a trip...crew and clients.

I think the additional safety measure would promote more travel honestly. For those who can afford to do so anyways.
Click to expand...

I think it depends. Testing done at the airport before you board, I think you’re right. Have to go find your own test, I think it won’t go well.
 
Roger Roger said:
Anyone who’s taken a covid test and would rather drive because of that is a moron. 20 seconds of swabbing your nostrils in exchange for saving days of driving? Y’all nuts.
Click to expand...

It wouldn't even have to be a nostril swabs. My county's health department uses a saliva test at their testing sites, all you have to do is drool into the test tube. Not sure if this is common, it seems like most tests are usually nasal swabs still.
 
Yakob said:
It wouldn't even have to be a nostril swabs. My county's health department uses a saliva test at their testing sites, all you have to do is drool into the test tube. Not sure if this is common, it seems like most tests are usually nasal swabs still.
Click to expand...
The last one I had they touched that little dangly thing that hangs in the back of my throat.
 
JordanD said:
The last one I had they touched that little dangly thing that hangs in the back of my throat.
Click to expand...
I’ve done the Pixel self-swab kit, been swabbed at our airport test center, and self-swabbed at the airport test center. None were a big deal. As others pointed out the limbo of waiting for results is an issue, I think this might be a good application of the quick tests. They miss some positive cases, but they catch the highest viral loads which seem to be most contagious, and again, you don’t have to catch every case.

Regardless, I still think by the time they get this figured out it will be a moot point, barring a gnarly mutation that evades both infection and vaccine immunity very successfully.
 

It appears Andrew Brooks, the inventor of the saliva Covid test, passed away recently. It was intended to increase testing capacity in the early stages of the Pandemic, when there were apparently swabs shortages. Another benefit is the person administering the test doesn't have to get close to the patient's face, so there's less risk of spreading the disease.
 
I really don’t know how citizens in other counties are dealing with their governments continuing to shut them inside. I’m a pretty reasonable, liberal guy and for nearly a year now I’ve taken this fairly seriously. Covid really knocked me down last month, as a healthy 26 year old. Took two weeks before I was getting back to working out etc. but when does this end?
It’s becoming clear Covid is never going away, it sucks but it’s the reality. We have vaccines being rolled out, with increasing speed and here we are talking about driving yet another stake into a struggling industry. Covid is terrible, the deaths are terrible but at some point I’m going to go back to enjoying life and people again. I’m pretty fatigued at this point. Having Covid and hopefully the vaccine in a month or two is enough of a safety net for me, I want to see my parents and family again.
Also when I had Covid with symptoms I had a negative test. Followed by a positive test two days later. Shows the accuracy of this stuff
 
Last edited:
Ayork62493 said:
I really don’t know how citizens in other counties are dealing with their governments continuing to shut them inside. I’m a pretty reasonable, liberal guy and for nearly a year now I’ve taken this fairly seriously. Covid really knocked me down last month, as a healthy 26 year old. Took two weeks for I was getting back to working out etc. but when does this end?
It’s becoming clear Covid is never going away, it sucks but it’s the reality. We have vaccines being rolled out, with increasing speed and here we are talking about driving yet another stake into a struggling industry. Covid is terrible, the deaths are terrible but at some point I’m going to go back to enjoying life and people again. I’m pretty fatigued at this point. Having Covid and hopefully the vaccine in a month or two is enough of a safety net for me, I want to see my parents and family again.
Click to expand...

I think reasonable people can reach a point to where they recognize that maybe the restrictions are making life worse than actually having COVID. For our household, it was the realization that our marriage wasn't going to sustain our early COVID level of restrictions, and that our kids would suffer lasting psychological and educational impacts. It's not an emotional "I'm tired of being stuck at home!" response - it's a very rational "life would be better even with the risk."
 
Screaming_Emu said:
I disagree. Just because this wouldn’t be a perfect measure, doesn’t mean it’s not worth looking at. Unless I’m mistaken, what makes this virus so unique is you can be asymptomatic and spreading it to others. That’s who they’re trying to discover.

Theoretically, someone within that three day window where they aren’t showing symptoms could get where they’re going, get sick and alert someone. Theoretically, that would allow for contact tracing...but that assumes a system that works and Americans not being selfish d-bags.
Click to expand...

I’ve been looking for, but can’t find, the graphic I was thinking about. It illustrated how the 3 days” can be bupkis depending on where the person is in the infection’s development.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top