A team of researchers from Indiana University performed random testing for SARS-CoV-2 across the state. The results offer some of the most accurate data to date about important aspects of the virus.
For the vast majority of people, no — you don’t need a referral to get tested at dedicated public COVID-19 testing clinic. It’s different if you plan to get tested at a private pathology clinic.
If you’ve got a test but haven’t heard back, it’s possible the delay is caused by test samples needing to be taken to interstate labs and the huge scale of testing underway.
Keeping health-care workers COVID-free is critical to delivering care to those who need it during a pandemic. What can we do to ensure they are better protected?
The prospects of elimination remain elusive but even with the current Victoria outbreak, Australia is maintaining a high number of tests per thousand people.
Screening multiple samples with a single test gets more people diagnosed using fewer supplies. Two health policy researchers explain how it works and how it could help the US.
South Africa’s public health system has been allocated R21.5 billion more for the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic but there’s no strategy to guide how it should be used.
Testing healthcare workers can play a role in preventing new infections, but is a highly limited strategy and shouldn’t distract from other, more helpful measures.
It’s nearly impossible to avoid close contact when protesting, and easy to forget the risks. An infectious disease expert answers key questions about how to avoid spreading the coronavirus to family.
Early reports by the National Health Laboratory Service indicated that it had the capacity to do 30,000 tests a day. But capability to do so has not materialised.
Expanding coronavirus testing is one of the most important tasks public health officials are tackling right now. But questions over accuracy of the two main types of tests have rightly caused concern.
Nic Geard, The University of Melbourne; Jodie McVernon, The University of Melbourne, dan Katherine Gibney, The Peter Doherty Institute for Infection and Immunity
Testing and isolating cases only after they develop symptoms might not be enough to prevent further outbreaks of COVID-19. Sentinel surveillance, by testing randomly in the community, can go further.
Researchers and public health officials still don’t know how widespread nor how deadly the coronavirus really is. Random testing is a way to quickly and easily learn this important information.
A group of population experts have called on governments in Latin American and the Caribbean to urgently ramp up testing for COVID-19 before it’s too late.
Officially, not that many people have recovered from the coronavirus. An epidemiologist explains what has to happen for a COVID-19 survivor to get a clean bill of health.
Professor of Applied Mathematics, ARC Laureate Fellow, Chief Investigator in the Australian Centre of Excellence in Mathematical and Statistical Frontiers, The University of Melbourne