Some thoughts on where we are and where we are going. Hopefully to stimulate some discussion and maybe even some activism. I see a lot of people asking "How long will this last?" It's an obvious and understandable question. But not really the right question. The right question is "What is the path out of this?" What we are doing now - a very partial and incomplete isolation of most of the population in some states and even less than that in others - is essential and important for where we are right now but it is both not enough and too much. It's not enough to truly stop the spread of the virus and it is too much for our psychological, emotional and economic well-being. It is working for flattening the curve of the virus and we must do it and do it as well as we can. But continuing to do what we are doing now is not the answer for ultimate success. It will slow the spread, help to reduce the chance of the health care system collapsing under the weight — but it doesn’t stop the spread. It doesn't lead to a path out. It seems to me that the path out of this - the path to being able to safely resume something more like "normal" life - must run through VERY widespread, probably even universal - testing. Our governmental leaders and the appropriate industries need to put a maximal focus on developing the capacity to test very large numbers of people with very fast results. And we need to be able to test - fast and accurately - for two things: who is currently infected and who has been infected and recovered and has the antibodies that (probably) make them immune. And then we need to prepare for a very large scale program of testing, re-testing and contact tracing that will require an army of public health workers far larger than anything we have now. Once we have that capability, we can move to true, full isolation of the infected, set the immune free to move about and work normally, contact trace new infections and gradually allow more freedom of movement for the uninfected. Without those capabilities we are condemned to continue what we are doing now until an effective vaccine is developed and tested- many months from now, possibly a year or more. Does anyone else have thoughts on this? Do we know of any leaders at the state or national level who are working in this direction?