By John Hickenlooper
March 31, 2020
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When I opened Colorado’s first brewpub, we had to work hard to get people in the door to try something new. Today, in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic, restaurant owners and other small businesses will have a much more difficult burden to bear. Even when restrictions are lifted and officials allow businesses to reopen, people aren’t likely to go out to eat, go shopping, or head back to the office without knowing for certain that their health and the safety of their community isn’t at risk.
I believe the only way to regain our confidence and restart our economy is having the capacity to either test or vaccinate every American.
It may be many months until a COVID-19 vaccine is found safe and approved for widespread use, despite encouraging early reports from initial testing.
The capacity for universal testing needs to come faster. So far, America has tested fewer than a million people. Tests are still scarce, restricted, and slow. Of course, the available tests must go first to those with the worst symptoms, the most direct exposure, and those doctors, nurses, EMTs and first responders on the front lines.
But with American ingenuity, we will soon create a faster test that is easier and cheaper to mass-produce. Already one company has announced a new test that takes just five minutes to get results, and others are working around the clock to bring down testing times.
To get our economy back on track, we need to begin scaling up our capacity to test every American so each person knows if they are a risk to themselves or others. We provide flu shots on a mass scale. Our public health officials can figure out how to administer COVID-19 tests on a nationwide scale as well.
