We the undersigned are calling for a national mobilization to create a universal COVID-19 testing program for every person in the United States of America. 

The only proven way to slow and eventually stop this pandemic is to have an accurate picture of who has had the disease, who currently has it, and who is still at risk.

Social-Distancing and the steady leadership of Governors Cuomo, Whitmer, and others is buying us valuable time, but the question is what is the Federal Government doing with the time we are buying them?  

Without universal testing, this period of pause becomes a delay of the inevitable. 

For around $4 billion, the US Government could provide an antibody test to every person in America - a paltry sum compared to the $2 trillion disaster relief package Congress just passed. And they can do so in a way that preserves our vital supplies of PPE equipment.

This is not a fairy tale idea - the United Kingdom is making millions of 15 minute at-home testing antibody test kits available to the general public at pharmacies and via mail. In one Italian town, we showed mass testing could eradicate the coronavirus while South Korea has shown us that widespread, regular testing is the only way to significantly flatten the curve. Iceland’s approach to COVID rests on aggressive testing regardless of symptoms, confirming research which shows that those without symptoms continue to greatly contribute to the transmission of the disease.

As this pandemic becomes less abstract and more personal-- when people’s own loved ones start to show symptoms - it’s only human that they will want certainty and safety.  The Government should not cover up their failure to provide testing by shaming us for wanting tests.  

No one organization, delivery method, or type of test is going to solve this crisis - that’s why we need coordinated action from the Federal Government to undertake this massive logistical feat with help from the military and private sector; this is not the time to be tied to ideology.

What we need is political courage: the political will to solve this logistics problem. We are currently witnessing exactly why status quo career politicians can no longer effectively govern our Country in the 21st Century. We need leadership to put people before politics and country before party and follow the lead of the countries above. 

Congress and the President must act in the best interest of our heroes: our front line workers. Healthcare professionals, first responders, transit workers, grocery store employees, pharmacists, government personnel, members of the media, members of the military, and all who can not work from home would be tested regularly, even when not presenting symptoms. 

If not for our heroes, then for our seniors; the keepers of humanity’s collective wisdom. They do not have the ability to fight this disease on their own, and for their sake we must fight for them.