Balkinization  

Monday, April 27, 2020

Coronavirus and the Testing Problem

Stephen Griffin


In the near future whether you can apply for many positions, receive an education, and simply enter certain buildings will depend on your ability to pass a simple medical test.  Persons who are cleared by the test will have proof in a way others can see, such as through a shareable app or perhaps a symbol they can wear.  The “cleared” will no doubt be treated differently from those that do not.  They might be able to shop at certain establishments not otherwise open to the public, for example.

Unless there are special circumstances, the test will not be available from the government.  Moreover, the kind of repeated testing that is necessary to participate in these activities is not free.  It is conditional on your ability to perform certain kinds of (mostly) highly remunerative jobs or your ability to benefit from an education designed to prepare you for those jobs.  If you can participate and pass the test, you might consider yourself special.  And why not?  You will be a certified participant in the new enclave society.  In the enclave (an idea somewhat inspired by the 1997 movie Gattaca), people are regarded as disease-free and hence have higher social standing than those that cannot receive the test or fail it.

This is, of course, a projection based on certain rapidly developing realities.  It is the sort of society that may develop in the United States as the national government so far refuses to enact the kind of program which would massively expand the testing necessary to detect the coronavirus.  The EEOC has already ruled that these tests do not violate the Americans with Disabilities Act.  State and local governments do not have the resources to provide this testing.  But large corporations and non-profit organizations like universities most assuredly do.  And they will, because arguably their very survival depends on it.  Without strong collective action by the government to provide testing as a matter of right, we could arrive quickly at the enclave society – or perhaps an Orwellian version much worse than the one we are currently living in.


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