Excellent reporting by @StribJO
CDC says 38 cycles for Covid test which state lab is following — Mayo set at 35 — lower amount...but 1/5 https://twitter.com/stribjo/status/1304937055940730891

“Thresholds vary from 40 to 45 for three commercial platforms used by HealthPartners' lab in Eden Prairie and by the private labs with which the health system has contracts” Why are they set higher than the Mayo Clinic??
2/5

“Among 300 positive tests over the past three months, the state lab found that roughly 47% required fewer than 30 cycles to find one of two required viral targets in samples, while 21% needed 30 to 35 cycles, and 24% needed 35 to 38 cycles.”

3/5

So 1/4 of cases detected at state lab wouldn’t have been detected at Mayo. And— at least that amount from Health Partners labs. WHY!!?? MONEY!!?? Detect cases, get money?? If you run enough cycles you’ll find something. Legislature needs answers 4/5

We are spending $ contact tracing & pulling people out of work & school to quarantine who don’t have enough viral load to be infectious! Scaring the hell out of the public and destroying our way of life. It’s a mess. 5/5