[supernova87a]

Can someone here explain in a couple of points what the idea is? While the site is overwhelmed?

Edit, is the idea (for the non-expert):

1) Repurposing idle gene sequencing equipment left over from Human Genome project

2) Reducing / removing the step of having to extract the RNA of the virus as the marker

3) Making these tests / machines available widely across the country so that the delay to getting a result is minimized ?

[dvdt]

1) and 2) are exactly right.

3) is almost right--these sanger sequencing instruments are already widely available across the country for research use. Here in the Bay Area, I can choose from at least 4 different Sanger sequencing services that will run 10,000 samples at $2/sample in 24 hours. For example, see: https://www.mclab.com/DNA-Sequencing-Services.html