Jeff Bezos Sketched Out Our Biggest Challenge In Re-Opening The U.S. Economy

jeff bezos
jeff bezos

Graver news is surrounding the nation by each passing day. With over 22 million Americans filing for unemployment claims over the past four weeks and an estimated 18 million people becoming jobless, there is a huge impact on the U.S. economy. 

Claims to reopen the economy have grown stronger yet the task is one with many hurdles. Essential services aside, the country cannot see the future when its normal workforce is out for a normal workday. 

Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos shared his concern and a strategic route to face the pandemic related challenges, in his annual letter to the shareholders of Amazon. To bring the economy back up and running, Bezos chalks out that regular and indiscriminate testing is the way forward. 

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“If every person could be tested regularly, it would make a huge difference in how we fight this virus. Those who test positive could be quarantined and cared for, and everyone who tests negative could re-enter the economy with confidence.”

150,000 tests: the current number of tests done across the nation per day is only half of what is required for the ‘test and trace’ program to function effectively. Bill McBride, Calculated Risk, informs we are far from unfolding the true extent of the spread of this virus.

The Amazonians therefore, have begun to build a lab, complete with all the necessary equipment to begin testing each and every one of their employees to get back on track as soon as possible. “We’ve begun the work of building incremental testing capacity,” writes Bezos. 

Although this might not be a feasible model for all the other private sector companies, this could be a model for the government to follow as the challenge is to get back on the road. 

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