Platform Coop for Covid-19 Medical Supplies, Diagnostics Etc

All over the world, governments are focussing their efforts on “flattening the curve” - spreading out the number of Covid-19 fatalities over a longer period so a healthcare system is not overwhelmed. But how do we also shorten the curve – and avoid a prolonged period of enforced isolation and social turmoil? Our aim is to design a process to identify local resources which can implement new open-source designs for mass testing. This form of mass testing can end the threat of the virus and the harm caused by a prolonged lockdown.

Using the UK as a case study, we have identified promising designs for a variety of testing methods and we intend to map both the resources and facilities in the UK capable of manufacturing and implementing these methods. The project then aims to connect the capable organisations into an initiative to implement testing on a far larger scale than what has been proposed so far by government. This project is a research partner of KISS (Kent Interdisciplinary Centre for Spatial Studies).

This project addresses the lack of mass testing for COVID19 in countries like the UK. This will lead to more people dying from the corona virus and from the side effects of interventions like long term physical isolation. The proposed solution is to mobilize the communities and institutions outside central government to implement mass testing and begin the process of ending the corona virus.

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COVID19 will continue to spread unless it is contained. There are also a multitude of harmful effects involved in waiting for a vaccine to become widely available. A vaccine is not a guaranteed solution either. In order to contain the virus, who is infected with it needs to be tested. Mass testing is not available in countries such as the UK as the government is currently unwilling to support mass testing.

AIM / Contribute to ending coronavirus

OBJECTIVE

1. Focus on countries without mass testing for coronavirus e.g. UK
2. Create network willing and capable in principle of conducting coordinated mass testing

METHODS

1. Mapping infrastructure and decison makers
2. Targetting decision makers
3. Supporting development of mass testing capability

This project

• Does not risk waiting for overwhelmed central governments to act.
• Does not assume overwhelmed governments act in local communities best interests
• Recognises a limited scientific perspective is being used by some governments e.g. UK

This project asks people, communities and organisations to

• Recognise a government does not always know whats best for their bodies and health
• Take responsibility for their bodies and their health
• Recognise that this pandemic has revealed health to be a community phenonmenon
• Leverage all their power and resources to end coronavirus
• Using an innovative self organising approach to community self care

• Established premises
• Building seed team (in progress)