New research from scientists at the University of Colorado Boulder and the Harvard TH Chan School of Public Health suggests that mass rapid testing for COVID-19 every three days within six weeks can help drive the pandemic into extinction, especially targeting those who show no signs of the infection.
COVID-19 mass rapid testing may drive the pandemic away, according to new paper.
New Study Suggests Mass Rapid Testing
According to a report by Business Insider, the group of researchers suggests that even if rapid testing is less reliable, the results will allow public health authorities to provide more targeted interventions and avoid lockdowns that affect the economy.
Moreover, rapid testing is cheaper, so frequent mass testing is plausible.
Rapid testing also returns the results in a matter of minutes compared to the COVID-19 lab test that typically takes days.
By testing half of the population of the United States weekly, they can quickly isolate anyone who tests positive in a rapid test and isolate them from those who are completely healthy, which would make a significant impact according to the researchers.
The study was published on November 20 in the scientific journal "Science Advances" and was based on mathematical modeling.
Read More: COVID-19: New Data Suggest 'Powerful and Long-Lasting' Coronavirus Immunity
Enough to Drive the Pandemic Into Extinction
Based on the paper, rapid testing 75% of a city's population for COVID-19 every three days would slash the number of infected by 88%, which, according to the researchers, is "sufficient to drive the epidemic toward extinction within six weeks."
"Our big picture finding is that, when it comes to public health, it's better to have a less sensitive test with results today than a more sensitive test with results tomorrow," said Daniel Larremore, a computer science professor at the University of Colorado Boulder and the lead author of the study.
Larremore further said that instead of pushing everyone to stay indoors so that one person who is sick won't spread it, the test would make it so that only those who are sick would remain indoors while the rest can go about their lives.
"These rapid tests are contagiousness tests," co-author of the study, Michael Mina, said, who is also a professor of epidemiology at Harvard. "They are extremely effective in detecting COVID-19 when people are contagious."
US President-Elect Biden's COVID-19 Plan
This may soon come to fruition as new US President-elect Joe Biden has shared some of his plans to deal with the COVID-19 pandemic.
According to a report by Politico this Friday, November 20, Biden is considering increasing the availability of "cheap, rapid tests."
Moreover, the President-elect and his team are also planning to focus on people who show no signs of infection or the asymptomatic folks to prevent them from silently spreading the disease to other people.
As of now, the world is awaiting the FDA approval of the Moderna and Pfizer vaccines, the frontrunners in the vaccine race.
After getting approval from the agency, the companies will begin mass distributing the vaccines across the US as well as in several countries abroad to, fortunately, help stop COVID-19 once and for all.
Related Article: Pfizer COVID-19 Vaccine Trial Results Shows 95% Effectiveness, Hopes to Release First Batch Early December
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Written by: Nhx Tingson
