Respectfully snipped for focus. Testing should be free. If it's not, we're always going to have people who suffer at home and not bother going to get tested.
At this link, you'll see the flyer for the local hospital, which is the only place within about 13 miles that's offering testing for Covid--at a cost of $152.46. Plus, you need a doctor's order. Look at the small line of text just under the words...
"Important information for patients and visitors"
It reads...
"As required by Section 3202(b) of the CARES Act, our cash charge for the COVID-19 diagnostic test is $152.46 with a physician order."
For those who have insurance, the cost is likely covered. Those who don't are just out of luck.
If we can't test efficiently, contact tracing means nothing.
This whole virus has been handled so poorly in the US from the get-go. The vaccine, masking, and social distancing are probably our best bets, but all the rest of the stuff..contact tracing, shutdowns, quarantines, all of that is a band-aid on a severed limb because there's no uniformity or consistency. What works in other nations will not work here because too many people resist. I'm not coming down on those who resist, they have their opinions and those opinions are just as valid as mine, but I'm disappointed in our leadership--both the old leadership and the new leadership.
