Strict lockdowns, quarantines and testing have prevented many people in China from catching COVID-19. With concerns over Chinese vaccine efficacy and uptake, China may be facing a looming COVID-19 surge.
The CDC has long been a trusted source of health information, keeping the public not only safe but calm in times of disease outbreaks. Public health officials fear now for its reputation.
Test positivity rates measure the success of a testing program. Even though the US performs a huge number of tests, high test positivity rates across the country show that that it still isn’t enough.
Zoë McLaren, University of Maryland, Baltimore County
Ideally everyone could get tested frequently for the coronavirus. No state is close to achieving this, but some are doing better than others. What are the challenges in meeting demand for testing?
Too many people are going out with COVID-19 symptoms or while awaiting a test result, Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews has said, after the state hit a bleak new record of 484 new cases.
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.
To control the COVID-19 pandemic through random testing would require about 6.5 million test a day. Using group testing and machine learning could get that number down to fewer than 40,000 day.
Recent cases remind us that although children and teens are considered less likely than adults to catch and spread COVID-19, everyone with symptoms should get a test — including children and teens.
The prospects of elimination remain elusive but even with the current Victoria outbreak, Australia is maintaining a high number of tests per thousand people.
Deborah Williamson, The Peter Doherty Institute for Infection and Immunity; Allen Cheng, Monash University, and Sharon Lewin, The Peter Doherty Institute for Infection and Immunity
Saliva testing is less sensitive than a nasal swab. But in the midst of a public health crisis, in some cases a test with slightly reduced sensitivity may be better than no test at all.
As compulsory testing and more restrictive quarantine rules are being considered, it is critical these measures are properly communicated and used with restraint.
The SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus is currently detected using invasive nasal swabs. But the virus is also present in saliva, potentially paving the way for cheaper, safer tests that people could do at home.
Director, The Peter Doherty Institute for Infection and Immunity, The University of Melbourne and Royal Melbourne Hospital and Consultant Physician, Department of Infectious Diseases, Alfred Hospital and Monash University, The Peter Doherty Institute for Infection and Immunity