A Quick & Easy, Readily Available Way to Diagnose Covid-19 virus ....

I keep hearing on the news that officials are concerned by the "limited number of testing kits available for Covid-19."   I just read an article not three days ago indicating researchers at Mt. Sinai hospitals had examined CT-scans of over 100 patients with confirmed infections of the Covid-19 virus.  In patients who had the virus for greater that 3 days (i.e., 4-5 days and up) the lungs showed a clear accumulation of unique "glass-like" particle masses which appear to be unique to this corona strain of virus, while not being present in mere common flu strains.  With this in mind, I cannot help but wonder why CT-scans cannot be used to rule out Covid-19 in cases where symptoms have been present for greater than 3 days?  Use what you have, right????

Generic CT-scan of Lungs

CT-scans can provide a short-term solution to the lack of access to Covid-19 test kits, while also having the bonus benefit of providing immediate confirmation of positive test cases as opposed to having to wait for CDC to process and confirm results which currently takes days, not hours.

3/5/2020  Good news.  The CDC has made test kits for Covid-19 more widely available to states, local municipalities and major universities equipped with labs for processing the tests.  This will reduce the turn around time for reporting back test results to mere hours, which is a huge improvement.  Moreover, the wider availability of test kits will help to identify new cases more effectively, thereby potentially helping to reduce the spread of the virus.  The latter being said, I still hold that in places where test kits are not available a CT-scan is a viable method for identifying the virus.

I finally came across a useful piece of information, with respect to the ability of the virus to remain alive on a external surface (e.g., counter-tops, railings, doorknobs, keyboards, phones --maybe now is a good time for people to start regularly disinfecting their 'smart' phones?) ... Researchers are claiming that the Covid-19 virus can remain alive on a surface for up to 6 full hours.  To put this into perspective, it is my understanding that most common viruses (e.g., standard flues and other cold viruses) can only remain alive on a surface for about an hour.  The Aids virus can remain alive on a surface for up to 3 hours, while Hepatitis C can remain alive on surfaces for several days to weeks ... that is to say researchers are still not certain how long the Hepatitis C virus can remain alive on an external surface.  This piece of information would be very helpful to convey to the general public, so that they can plan accordingly w.r.t. touching potentially contaminated surfaces and the importance of routinely disinfecting common surfaces.  Update:  a) Covid-19 can survive on select (porous ... e.g., cardboard box and clothing, blankets) surfaces for up to 6 days.  Non-porous surfaces to a lesser extent, hours up to a day or two, depending on material type.  Now will this still 'alive', barely clinging to 'life' virus still be capable of infecting a host (i.e., you and me) after 6 days?  Probably not.  b) Were some initial reports that Covid-19 being a small particle form in respiratory droplets could survive in the air for up to three hours, hence the subsequent social distancing of 6+ feet and groups of no more than 10 people.

I have one last concern that has not been adequately addressed by CDC to date.  This concern centers around the "glass-like particle masses" that have been found in all individuals infected by Covid-19.  My question is this:  Do these particle masses resolve completely once a patient recovers or will these masses remain, potentially having irreversible, longer term impacts on the patient's lung health as is the case for patients who are exposed to the Tuberculosis virus?  The experts seem to be focusing exclusively on the fact that most healthy people who contract the virus will 'recover' --and not die from the virus itself, the virus most negatively impacting those with underlying health conditions (e.g., the elderly).  While helping to allay fears and stop outright panic from sweeping across the nation, the latter focus on 'recovery' rates does a disservice to people by diminishing the potential for longer term consequences of being exposed to this Covid-19 virus.  Having all of the facts allows individuals to make truly informed decisions about the risks --and a cavalier attitude on the part of some (e.g., Jesse Waters on Fox News)-- they are willing to take when risking exposure to this virus.  Specifically, given the risk --yet to be addressed by the CDC-- of irreversible, longer term consequences of contracting Covid-19 --i.e., permanent presence of these glass-like particle masses in the lungs-- people may choose to stay at home vs. risking exposure in large gathering scenarios (e.g., religious worship services, concerts, sporting events, travel, etc.).  The more you know ......