Testing and tracking.

Those are the two things that will make it possible to get out of the black hole of coronavirus lockdowns.

The state needs to know not just who is sick. It needs to know who is infected and not sick. That’s the testing part, and that is happening.

UPMC announced Tuesday it will be testing all patients hospitalized for surgery or other invasive procedures — not just those presenting with coronavirus symptoms. Good. UPMC is more than the biggest medical provider in Pittsburgh. It’s the largest system in Pennsylvania, so that one move means a significant number of tests being done and increasing the amount of data available.

So will same-day testing from a partnership between Indiana University of Pennsylvania and the Indiana Regional Medical Center.

So could the first home tests that are being approved for health care workers and first responders. So could other tests being developed that will make testing for the virus or its antibodies easier, faster and more widespread.

The second part is picking up the breadcrumbs of those positive tests and finding where they lead.

Carnegie Mellon University is launching a website that will track the disease nationwide. CMU associate professor of math Po-Shen Loh is developing a contact tracing app. Pennsylvania is refining its release of information about positive tests by ZIP code. Allegheny County releases it by municipality, letting more people identify risks and danger zones.

We all need the best information we can get. Scientists need it to develop better treatments and responses. Leaders and legislators need it to make better decisions. Businesses need it. Schools need it. Families need it.

That isn’t a surprise. Everyone knew that was necessary. So why weren’t some things being done all along?

Namely, why weren’t infections and deaths in nursing homes being better followed and reported?

Among the first information we had about coronavirus was it was most lethal among populations that were aged, ill and had trouble breathing. Yet across the country and across Pennsylvania, following the disease in nursing homes has lagged.

On Monday, federal officials said they plan to start tracking and sharing that information. Pennsylvania began doing this April 15. Neither should have taken so long.

The reason we need more testing and more tracking is to create a path through the minefield of the pandemic — those breadcrumbs that will take us all to a happily ever after.

Without accurate information about those most at risk, the incomplete data we have is a guess, and the decisions we make are a gamble.

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