The
coronavirus – also more specifically called COVID-19 – appears more and more to
be China’s super flu gift to the world. As
it rages across the country and cases multiply in North Carolina, our leaders
look for answers to lessen its impact and get it under control.
Thanks to the reform majority, North Carolina has $5.9 billion stashed in
various savings accounts. We can fight back. But we also have no idea how big
an impact this disease will have on state coffers for the coming months. The worry is about the lack of tax revenue
from sales taxes and other taxes as the air has gone out of our state’s economy
with businesses closed, workers furloughed and little understanding of where
this is all going.
Governor
Cooper and his health advisors have worked to mitigate the prevalence of cases
with various containment edicts, including a stay-at-home order intended to
limit social group contacts.
NC Senate Leader Phil Berger thinks we could do more, suggesting that we track
COVID-19 like the flu, using large-scale random sample testing. It’s another
way of addressing containment that would give us more understanding of the virus
and a better sense of how it works and who it attacks.
So far the Governor’s health pros haven’t acted on the idea. The state epidemiologist however acknowledged that the surveillance system currently being used by state health officials has limitations when it comes to tracing the full extent of the virus’ spread — including in people who show mild symptoms and don’t seek medical care and in those who are infected and show no symptoms.
So – if random sample testing could help where the surveillance containment strategy falls short, why not try it? More data, a bigger picture of what’s truly going on would appear to help. Experts including a Stanford professor of medicine and epidemiology have called for more reliable data.
It’s time for Governor Cooper to get on board with this innovative idea that hopefully could help target our efforts to “flatten the curve” even more in the fight against this insidious disease. This isn’t about one group being right or wrong. Let’s hope they’re all right and we enlist the best minds and techniques our great country can muster to fight this virus.