I don't have access to the paper but I'd love to know if you have to be a few days into the illness, e.g., in order for it to be detectable in your cough.
Check out the oss project [autofocus](https://github.com/uptake/autofocus) used by the Chicago zoo to operate camera traps. Could be useful for you too!
I think Nate's _interpretation_ was proved correct, and in the vein of "all models are wrong, some were useful," his proved useful (or would have if people were taking it more seriously) in both forecasting a more uncertain result as well as ancillary things like showing which states were"tipping point states" e.g. where should you put your money if you want to win.