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Most everyone has heard of the standard PCR test, which detects whether someone has the virus. But it cannot detect whether the person is capable of infecting others. In May 2020, the Stanford researchers created a specific PCR test that could do this.
SARS-CoV-2 is a positive or “plus-stranded” RNA virus. For it to replicate it must do so with a minus strand. Brilliantly, the Stanford test looks to see if the minus strand is present. If it is then that indicates the virus is actively replicating, which means it’s potentially infectious. If the minus strand is absent then the virus is not replicating. (It is not possible to transmit the virus if it is not replicating.
Though the test was developed for use in hospitals, its utility outside of a medical setting is obvious. Regular people could have paid for the test to find out after they got over a bout of Covid whether they were still infectious or not, enabling them to go to work, visit relatives, and so on. Millions of kids could have tested out of isolation.
While medical centers and other places with particularly vulnerable people may have benefited for some time from the more stringent rules, schools—as they did in Sweden—and most of society could have simply followed the classic advice “if you’re sick, stay home,” and we would have ended up in the same place.
davidzweig.substack.com
SARS-CoV-2 is a positive or “plus-stranded” RNA virus. For it to replicate it must do so with a minus strand. Brilliantly, the Stanford test looks to see if the minus strand is present. If it is then that indicates the virus is actively replicating, which means it’s potentially infectious. If the minus strand is absent then the virus is not replicating. (It is not possible to transmit the virus if it is not replicating.
Though the test was developed for use in hospitals, its utility outside of a medical setting is obvious. Regular people could have paid for the test to find out after they got over a bout of Covid whether they were still infectious or not, enabling them to go to work, visit relatives, and so on. Millions of kids could have tested out of isolation.
While medical centers and other places with particularly vulnerable people may have benefited for some time from the more stringent rules, schools—as they did in Sweden—and most of society could have simply followed the classic advice “if you’re sick, stay home,” and we would have ended up in the same place.
The Most Important Test You’ve Never Heard Of
In May 2020, Stanford scientists developed a test that could have altered the course of the pandemic response. It was never rolled out.
davidzweig.substack.com
