A new study from the University of Colorado and Harvard University confirmed that testing half of the population weekly using inexpensive and fast-track coronavirus tests will push the virus toward eliminating it within weeks – even if these tests are significantly less sensitive than gold-standard clinical tests.
The authors said that such a strategy can lead to “personal requests to stay at home” without closing restaurants, bars, retail stores and schools.
Frequent Corona Tests –
The chief researcher said, “The big conclusion that we got is that when it comes to general health, it is better to have a less sensitive test with today’s results rather than a more sensitive test with results tomorrow,” rather than telling everyone to stay home until you are certain. That one sick person does not spread it, we can only give infected people orders to stay home so that everyone else can live their lives. ”
For the study, which was published in a journal Science AdvancesThe researchers looked at the available literature on how the viral load rises and falls within the body during infection, when people tend to experience symptoms, and when they become contagious.
When it came to suppressing spread, they found that frequency and response time was much more important than the sensitivity of the test, for example, in a scenario in a large city, twice a week with a rapid but less sensitive test reduced the score for the virus by 80%.
But the test twice a week with a test PCR The most sensitive, which takes up to 48 hours to return results, reduces infection by only 58%, this is because about two-thirds of infected people do not have symptoms, and while they are waiting for results, they continue to spread the virus.
The study demonstrates the power of repeated testing in shortening the pandemic and saving lives, and the study comes at a time when companies and academic research centers are developing fast and low-cost tests that can be published in large public places or marketed for use yourself.
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