CNN today:
«A mass testing program of more than 4.7 million people in China's Xinjiang province identified nearly 140 asymptomatic cases over the weekend.»
China have a full elimination strategy towards the virus, that is based on identifying and isolating every single case. They recently tested 4,6 million people in a city after one single asymptomatic case emerged and imposed a lockdown meanwhile. They discovered 140 more asymptomatic cases during this testing. Thus, the strategy probably stopped a potential outbreak, before it happened.
Meanwhile: «White House chief of staff Mark Meadows said Sunday that the US is "not going to control" the coronavirus pandemic, as cases surge across the country and more than 225,000 Americans have died from the virus.»
A system of testing only those with symptoms is bound to give an increasing spread in time. Which is what all countries in Europe are doing, and the US, to my knowledge.
Iceland had a strategy of mass testing this spring and got control over the virus. But they too lost control after re-opening borders. Imported cases are more often asymptomatic and more likely to go under the radar than cases connected to other known cases, where quarantine is more likely in place. All of Europe tried to get the travel industry going this summer and encouraged travels. This strategy may be backfiring now. During a pandemic, if no one travels the virus does not spread.
This is a matter of politics.
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