Dr. Asma Rashid, who runs a members-only medical concierge service in the Hamptons, has received some of the most sought-after party invitations this summer.“We’ve gone to these private, private, private events, where they have me sign a ‘nothing you see in this house can be leaked’ document,” she said. “This is still a party town.”Dr. Rashid is there to administer rapid or real-time tests for coronavirus. She performs the procedure — either a finger prick or a nose swab — in the car, and then lets guests into the house only if their tests come back negative. The entire procedure takes less than 30 minutes. Consider it a pandemic pregame.Suffolk County still lacks rapid testing infrastructure, and the private service is expensive: up to $500 per test, and not all insurance companies will cover the cost. Most doctors don’t even have kits to do the tests; patients willing to pay can wait up to a week for an appointment at the offices that have them in New York City.
There shouldn't be two tiers of testing: Rapid tests with the results in under 30 minutes for the ultra-wealthy; and tests that take 3 weeks to get results for everyone else. Of course I don't know, but I'm fairly confident this is the first pandemic where rich folks could pay a premium to get their test results faster.
If we had a real government with a real leader, EVERYONE would get their test results quickly, so that we could contain the virus and reopen bars, restaurants, schools and sports safely. But if we did that, there would be no way for profiteers to make obscene profits off the pandemic, and of course the Trump administration would never allow that.
In personal news --- despite my original intention not to get my hair cut until the pandemic was over, its been about 6 months and my hair was driving me nuts. So I finally cut it --- myself.
I'm pleased with the result, and it appears a certain other party is as well, which makes me doubly pleased.
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