“Got fever? Shortness of breath? Get tested.” This was the headline in The Salt Lake Tribune on April 12.
That should have been the headline on March 6. It wasn’t, though, because there were no tests to be had for ordinary people in the state of Utah back then, and certainly none in mid-to-late February, when people with COVID-19 symptoms were told to stay home for two weeks unless temperatures went over 102 degrees.
The federal response to this virus has been dismal. Preparedness should have ramped up Jan. 2 so that testing was available everywhere in the country by February.
Now it is imperative that everyone be tested for antibodies to determine if they had the virus and survived at home. This is necessary for two reasons: To get an accurate count for the CDC and to let everyone know how to prepare for the second wave which will surely hit. Those with antibodies will be able to help others who will once again be sheltering at home, and provide COVID-19 plasma if needed to lower the death rate. We must have nationwide antibody testing.
Over four months into this pandemic, could we please do something proactive?
Candace Jacobson, Provo
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