Skip to main content

Bill Gates is funding a new at-home COVID-19 testing program and it's already testing 300 people a day

* Bill Gates has announced he's helping to fund a new COVID-19 scanning program in Seattle. * The system is called the Seattle Coronavirus Assessment Network (SCAN) and will send home nasal swabs to people to sample and monitor the spread of the coronavirus, whether they are unwell or not. * Gates said SCAN is already scanning 300 people per day, and it will open up for applications from the public.  * Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories. Microsoft billionaire and philanthropist Bill Gates is funding a new "disease surveillance" programme that samples the Seattle population for COVID-19. In a blog post on Tuesday, Gates said it involves sending Seattle citizens self-swab tests they can use at home to collect and send nasal samples to a lab, even if they are not showing symptoms. Gates is funneling cash from his philanthropic organization and his private office to fund the effort, called the Seattle Coronavirus Assessment Network, or SCAN. He wrote: ""As a surveillance program, SCAN's goal isn't to test every person or serve as a replacement for medical care. "Instead, SCAN is testing a sample of people in the Seattle region, including those who are healthy as well as those who are feeling sick." The test results and a bunch of other information — age, gender, race, zip code, and underlying health conditions — will be used by researchers, data modelers, and public health officials to examine COVID-19's spread and identify at-risk demographics. Gates wrote: "Those test results are then analyzed by disease modelers to map virus transmission chains. By examining the genetic signature of an infection, they can determine whether it represents a new introduction to the region or is part of a local transmission. "They can also use the data to estimate disease prevalence and build models to look at how the virus is responding to certain measures—like school closures and physical distancing." Although Gates is funding and publicizing the project, SCAN is headed up by five medical organisations: the Seattle and King County Public Health Department, the Brotman Baty Institute, the medicine faculty University of Washington, the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, and the Seattle Children's Hospital. Gates says the project is already testing 300 people per day, and on Wednesday will allow members of the public to apply to have a test sent to them via an application form on SCAN's website. Here is Gates' intro to SCAN:   Gates stresses in his blog SCAN isn't designed to replace widespread national testing. Gates has been critical of US slowness on COVID-19 testing as well as the inequality surrounding who gets tested.  "Our system fails to have the prioritization that would give us an accurate picture of what is going on," Gates told a CNN townhall earlier this month. He also criticized the US system for taking more than 24 hours to return test results to people. "What's the point of the test? That's your period of greatest infectiousness," he said. Join the conversation about this story » NOW WATCH: Why thoroughbred horse semen is the world's most expensive liquid
https://bit.ly/2zEkc5V

Popular posts from this blog

TikTok confirms it will sue the US government, alleging Trump failed to provide 'due process' before issuing ban

* TikTok confirmed Saturday that the company planned to sue the US government over President Donald Trump's executive orders targeting the popular app. * A company spokesperson said TikTok experienced "a lack of due process as the administration paid no attention to facts and tried to insert itself into negotiations between private businesses." * TikTok, which has surged in popularity over the past year, was known as Musical.ly until it was purchased by the Chinese company ByteDance in 2017 and renamed. * The president on August 6 and August 14 signed executive orders targeting TikTok.  * Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories. TikTok on Saturday announced it plans to sue the US government over President Donald Trump's executive orders pertaining to its ownership, arguing the company was deprived of its due process rights. The president, who began targeting TikTok in July, issued an executive order August 6 making it illegal for American compani...
Read more

A full breakdown of what channels you get with every Sling TV package, plus all the add-ons

  * Sling is one of the most affordable cord-cutting services on the market, offering two packages —  Orange and Blue — with 30+ channels starting at $30 a month or combined for $45 a month. * Orange offers the Disney Channel and ESPN, while Blue offers a slate of Fox channels, NBC, Bravo, and Discovery. Both Orange and Blue offer CNN, TBS, Food Network, and BBC America. * You can also add on multi-channel packages, like Sports Extras, Kids Extras, or News Extras, starting at $5 a month. Premium add-ons, like Showtime, Starz, and Epix, are also available for an additional monthly charge.  * If you're new to Sling TV, you can receive a free 14-day trial for a limited time. * Here's a complete breakdown of the channels offered on each Sling package.    If you're hoping to get the most bang for your buck once you cut the cord with your cable subscription, Sling is one of the most affordable live streaming services on the market.  The service has two packages with ...
Read more

The $136,000 Maserati Levante GTS is a drool-worthy preview of what Ferrari's SUV could be like (FCAU)

* I tested a 2020 Maserati Levante GTS SUV that with thousands in options stickered at approximately $136,000. * The Maserati Levante GTS has a 550-horsepower, twin-turbocharged V8 engine, plus a gorgeous red interior. * The Levante GTS is beautiful, powerful, and fast. That puts it near the top of the luxury, high-performance SUV segment. * But competition is coming — and the Levante is a great preview of what Ferrari may put on the road in the next few years. * Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories. Let's say you want a Ferrari, but you hail from a strange region where nobody is taught the lore of Maranello sports cars. An SUV is just your style, you decide. So you swing by your friendly neighborhood prancing horse dealership one day and ask if you can look at a couple of utes.  The dealer would thank you for your interest and slip you the business card of a colleague who represents Maserati, which since 2016 has been selling the Ferrari of SUVS, right dow...
Read more