There has been a lot of debate during this pandemic about the effectiveness of mask wearing, the risks involved with social contact and school reopenings, whether or not Vitamin D helps with COVID, and how much of this is all President Trump’s fault. However, everyone seems to agree that more testing, particularly more available at-home testing, would be a huge step forward. The problem, of course, is that the government hasn’t been able to provide the necessary testing capacity on a nationwide basis.
What the government is unable or unwilling to do, Costco will happily do. You might remember early on during the pandemic that Costco was one of the first businesses to require indoor mask wearing at its stores. Now they are taking another bold step – Costco is now offering at home COVID tests on their webpage. They aren’t cheap – 129.99 – but neither were the first flat screen televisions 20 years ago. Costco sells more wine than anyone in America, and I wouldn’t be stunned if they became our biggest seller of COVID tests pretty soon.
READER COMMENTS
Thomas Hutcheson
Oct 25 2020 at 12:01pm
One does not know if the government would have been UNABLE to provide capacity for massive, rapid-turn-around testing. Neither the Federal government nor any state tried.
Matthias
Oct 31 2020 at 10:30pm
It’s pretty silly that the government outlawed all competing non-government testing as a first step.
Alan Goldhammer
Oct 25 2020 at 1:46pm
Anyone conversant with the COVID-19 literature knows there is no reason for a debate on this point. Masks work as does not going into crowded areas with poor or no ventilation.
Jon Murphy
Oct 25 2020 at 2:48pm
Check out the link provided in that quoted sentence. You’ll see the debate is about more than just whether or not mask work as preventing the transmission.
Interestingly, Alan’s comment also shows a larger issue in the pandemic: that of expert failure and the problem of siloing.
robc
Oct 25 2020 at 3:06pm
Horwitz mentioned The Theory of Moral Sentiments, but The Seen and The Unseen is applicable as well.
Mark Z
Oct 25 2020 at 3:46pm
That there has been lots of – perfectly valid – debate is nonetheless true (that’s how the consensus in favor of medical masks was reached in the first place). The debate over the effectiveness of cloth masks (as opposed to surgical masks), however, seems very much ongoing.
In the link David posted, Steven Horwitz concludes, “In the article David linked, Steven Horwitz concludes, “So what are the implications? As I said at the outset, I think the benefits of mask wearing outweigh the costs.” So I don’t think there’s anything to object to here.
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