Initial Results From A Massive Experiment: Over 3 Million Coronavirus Tests At New England Colleges

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More than 100 New England colleges implemented mass coronavirus testing this fall. Of some 3.5 million tests administered, about one in a thousand turned up positive. Some experts say it's further evidence of the power of broad 'surveillance testing.'

But the region has seen nothing like the huge outbreaks affecting thousands in the south and midwest. The University of Florida has had over 5,000 cases, for example, as has Clemson University in South Carolina.

"It’s my understanding that schools that have done frequent testing of asymptomatic students have kept their rates at well below 1% positivity," says Gabriel from the Broad,"whereas schools that use another approach, of only testing symptomatic or only contacts of positives, have a rate at least tenfold higher."

Of course, those schools with higher rates could also be affected by other factors, including their culture of social distancing and mask use. But it could be that testing helps with those elements as well, according to what some schools have told Gabriel. "They think the fact that there's routine interval testing has sort of changed behavior, has improved behavior on the campuses," she says."Because the students know that 'I'm going to be tested a couple of times this week. And I don't want to have to quarantine. So I'm going to make sure I follow protocol.

College campuses are among the most fertile ground for transmission, he says, and American media play it up when there’s a big outbreak at a college or the White House,"but fail every day to say how many outbreaks are being averted, whether it’s by the White House frequent testing program, or by every academic institution in New England that continues to have small numbers of cases and stamps them out before any of them become outbreaks.

 

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How many are false positives?

Such a shame we couldn’t have had massive, easy testing in place in, say, February.

You can test until you are bled dry. Won’t do a thing if you don’t have anything in place to trace and enforce

I’m confused: what is the “power” exactly? What was the positive outcome?

How can we make crazy conspiracy theorists hate this innovative scientific testing protocol that has saved countless lives? What if we call it “surveillance testing”

It’s the power of the MMR vaccine! All of those kids born after the mid-1980s, minus the ones with anti-vaccer parents , received the MMR (Measels, Mumps, Rubella) Vac. Studies are showing it is highly protective against COVID-19 infection. Who knew!?!?

Boston University BU_Tweets has done a fantastic job! Students are tested twice per week and follow other protocols. Students also created an initiative to encourage each other to take it seriously so that they can remain on campus: fckitwontcutit GoTerriers

Surveillance testing works! At Georgia Tech we just go spit in a cup and give it to them. Very impressive results in early detection and keeping positivity rate low. A great success. joshuasweitz GeorgiaTech CabreraAngel

Or maybe it proves not as bad as they would lead you to believe

Not one effing word in this report about how many of the positive tests turned into actual symptomatic cases of Covid-19, never mind how many were serious. THAT is what we need to know.

We did not need to stupid evidence. We knew that and the right wingers even meme'd it. They just weren't smart enough to know what they are saying.

this is terrible news

Some say it’s the Idiocy of the media creating a Casedemic and fear mongering a low mortality rate pandemic in a high population density country perpetually pushing stupid solutions like lockdowns when there are no more deaths overall in the country or with elderly than lat year

US future = no freedom of speech, no gun rights, no property rights, cashless society so they track your every movement, can't leave your house without saying you can. Your too dumb to make your own decisions because the elites are smarter. The Gov't will have no opposition.

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