The UK prime minister in a recent briefing announced the plan to launch a new project called operation moonshot; the practical objective is testing more people, way more. The operation aims to test the whole of Britain in a week, every week, so everyone is constantly aware of their state - the target is to get to 500,000 per day by the end of next month and then, 10 million tests by the beginning of next year from the current number of about 350,000.
A budget of £100 billion has been earmarked for the operation.
Results for tests would be available within 15 - 90 minutes.
• From what I have read, this operation is not directly aimed at stopping the spread of the virus, but to streamline the journey to normalcy, so rather than encouraging everyone to obey lockdown restrictions, only those infected would need to isolate. The UK has been pushing plans at reopening the economy with schools also back up, this has led to an increase in the rate of spread, but even at a peak of 3,000 new cases per day, that would leave 99,997,000 people with negative results. These are the people the operation targets, a huge number of people would be able to interact and work freely without fear of spreading the disease.
We should also consider that contact tracing in the UK is at an efficiency of about 70% with the current testing capacity of 350,000. This is low and does not allow for efficient control of the pandemic situation. At a rate of 10 million people per day it could get even less efficient, except operation moonshot is a holistic approach.
• There's also the question of the plausibility of the operation, such a scheme is not practical with the current testing capacity and is dependent on emerging tech that is not yet available;
A WHO diagnostics expert told the Independent that the plan was “dependent on different technologies to what are being used now [in the UK]. It’s a massive gamble.” Moreover, the new techniques under consideration were often “untested” or came from companies “without much experience of medical testing at scale.”
It also appears that it would be run by private companies
The leaked documents indicate that the government’s plans are a massive windfall for the private sector, with “communities, institutions and employers” allowed to carry out tests. “Private sector/ business-led testing,” it adds, “plays a key enabling role.” “Letters of comfort” have already been sent to GSK, AstraZeneca, Serco and G4S. Retailers Boots and Sainsbury’s are also named, and Deloitte is reportedly being given a contract for more than half the work.
Source• If not done properly some of the hazards include; false positives or false negatives spreading a false sense of security or panic. People who are giving inaccurate positive results would need to isolate for no reason, while those giving inaccurate negatives would interact and further spread the virus.
• The operation also has its advantages, it would allow for accurate and up-to-date record keeping of the infection rate in the entire country to allow the health team better manage the situation, but at a budget of £100 billion, would it be worth it?
