Why the Biden stimulus bill includes billions for COVID testing
by Alan Goodman
The new $1.9 trillion stimulus bill — passed in Congress and destined for signature on President Biden’s desk — includes a number of items that have gotten lots of attention. Direct payments, tax credits, extended unemployment benefits, aid to state and local governments, vaccine distribution, subsidies for health insurance, assistance to pay for public health employees…
… And testing. At least $25 billion, according to the Wall Street Journal. Possibly more than $25 billion if allotments to re-open schools and funds to test municipal workers add to the totals. (Specific details are still a bit sketchy in the reports).
You might wonder — why is testing still important with vaccines rolling out and inoculations ahead of schedule? With projections suggesting we may be at herd immunity this summer, why would the nation’s lawmakers prioritize this expense?
The answer is that testing for COVID-19 is needed now. It will still be necessary this summer. It may be a wise policy forever.
A lingering virus, post-pandemic
Many health experts are saying that COVID-19 is with us now and will join the list of bedeviling health challenges we fight on an on-going basis, the way we battle the common cold and the flu. We’ll get through the pandemic, but COVID won’t be eradicated. Meanwhile, as vaccinations in other parts of the world lag, more variants will be allowed to emerge. Those variants may include some that are even more contagious and deadly than the variants already troubling health researchers who worry they may slip by the vaccines so triumphantly released and so eagerly sought.
But let’s not put the wrong spin on this. This is not meant as an alert, a warning, or a prohibition. The Biden COVID Relief Plan is about making us whole, getting us back to normal, getting us open, and keeping us open. And at TESTD, we’ll all for that. This nation must restart, and that means being wise about the steps we take.
Here are the ways testing matters and must continue even as the economy rebounds and the health crisis fades:
1) Still too many new infections. In the U.S. alone, roughly 60,000 new cases are still diagnosed daily. That’s far better than the quarter-million per day when the virus was slaying us, but nearly double the rate when the nation first went into lockdown for COVID. It wouldn’t take much for a fourth spike to shoot out of control. Which brings us to the next concern;
2) Re-opening is inconsistent and possibly reckless. Public health officials are concerned that states are giving-in to weary citizens feeling the warmth of spring on their necks and eager to leave their homes at last. The itchiness is understandable, but if we relax the smart public health policies like mask wearing too soon, individuals will hear only the good news and infections will follow. It’s just math, and math isn’t wrong. And let’s not forget the most puzzling part of the novel coronavirus known as COVID-19;
3) It’s a sneaky virus. We should all know by now that one of the big reasons health experts were late to understand the importance of mask wearing is that we had never seen a virus like this that can hide and infect for as long as two weeks before the onset of symptoms. That’s two weeks of feeling fine, threading through the community, and passing the illness to friends, loved ones, co-workers, and frontline heroes right and left. We’re writing this in South Florida during the earliest days of Spring Break 2021, and the images of partiers from all over the country flooding our beaches and businesses is alarming.
Again, everything can be done safely. Are our friends from out-of-state being safe? With infections too high, careless behavior likely, and a virus that is deceptively infectious, testing is as important as mask wearing, distancing, and good hygiene.
This pandemic will end. That’s clear now, and we should all live in awe of the doctors and nurses who have kept us alive, the researchers who have engineered the vaccines, and the health professionals who have worked tirelessly to bring us the best data, the wise advice, and the science that will get the economy going again and life as we want it rebooted.
Now scientists are saying that testing is essential for the foreseeable future, and may become as common as brushing our teeth in the morning. And that’s a GOOD thing! A positive result. Because what keeps you alive and participating in life is good, right?
Many businesses are paying attention in an upbeat and proactive spirit. In fact, the goal of businesses and municipalities turning to TESTD to schedule, manage, and report on COVID-19 is to PARTICIPATE in that great re-opening we’ve all been hoping to experience, and that the Relief Bill was designed to incentivize.
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