To stop its raging coronavirus outbreak, which is currently spreading at a rate of about 60,000 new cases per day, the United States can do one of two things.
Either it can lock everybody down completely — or it can test everybody constantly.
The lockdown approach works because if infected people can’t get close to noninfected people, the chain of transmission is broken, even if we don’t know who is actually infected.
The testing approach works because it lets us identify infected people and isolate them from noninfected people without forcing everybody else to stay home.
The problem with lockdowns, however, is that after enduring a big national one this spring — and suffering the economic fallout with little to show for it — Americans have zero appetites for even targeted, localized sequels. ♦
