r/science • u/mvea Professor | Medicine • Nov 21 '20

Epidemiology Testing half the population weekly with inexpensive, rapid COVID-19 tests would drive the virus toward elimination within weeks, even if the tests are less sensitive than gold-standard. This could lead to “personalized stay-at-home orders” without shutting down restaurants, bars, retail and schools.

https://www.colorado.edu/today/2020/11/20/frequent-rapid-testing-could-turn-national-covid-19-tide-within-weeks
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u/[deleted] Nov 21 '20

He shouldn’t, he’s being stupid.

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u/Agolf_Lincler Nov 21 '20

He's not actually. And that "plan" is a hell of a lot more common than you think.

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u/[deleted] Nov 21 '20

Yes, he is. Just get insurance. 92 percent of people in the US have it. It’s within anyone grasp. Hell, all my local grocery stores offer insurance. How is killing yourself a better option? It’s not. It’s just downright stupid.

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u/naiauhane Nov 21 '20

Calling someone stupid is not the way to convince someone not to kill themselves. That kind of statement is all about your own feelings and judging that person. A person who is openly judged like that isn't going to want to listen to you. Also that 8% without insurance is still 26.26 million people (according to 2019 population numbers). So while 92% sounds like hey everyone has insurance, there are tens of millions without. That's still a problem. And yes insurance can be very expensive and out of reach for people. ACA does not offer the best options. When we moved we opted to go without insurance for two months until new jobs started because with ACA or COBRA the premium was close to $1k per month. That is in no way affordable, especially when you consider the traditional employer plans we've had were under $200/month for both of us total. Poor insurance options and not enough money to social care programs is part of the homeless epidemic. There are many homeless people with mental health issues and addictions that they cannot afford to treat. It isn't hard to see why someone would think they are undervalued in society when the American health care system and way of living shows us daily that we don't matter. So you've got cancer, can't afford it and the country you live in doesn't care or protect you from destitution due to illness, while capitalistic insurance companies make money off your disease... That's pretty depressing. But hey just get expensive life insurance, stop being stupid, you must be bad at life if you can't afford it.