Originally Posted by
boozehound
If we had A LOT more tests, PPE, and ventilators we would be in a much better position. With respect to opening up the country the tests are probably the most immediately of value, because they allow you to know who has the virus and who does not. Part of the reason we have to have the whole country on lockdown is because we can't test. You could theoretically shut this down relatively quickly if you could test the entire country (or as close to it as possible) and quarantine everybody who tests positive for 2 weeks. That's obviously an impractical example, but the closer you get to that the better. Many experts think that South Korea fared to well because they aggressively tested and quarantined the infected and exposed..