Sheena G. Sullivan, WHO Collaborating Centre for Reference and Research on Influenza dan Jennifer MacLachlan, The Peter Doherty Institute for Infection and Immunity
A man in the Northern Territory recently received a “weak positive” test result for COVID-19. Understanding how coronavirus tests work shows us why this can happen from time to time.
Zoë McLaren, University of Maryland, Baltimore County
Testing large numbers of people regularly would reduce the spread of the coronavirus in the US. Laboratory testing is slow and expensive, but rapid screening tests could be the answer.
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.
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.
More people are sending off saliva samples to find out about their genetic roots. But the raw DNA results go way beyond genealogical data – and could deliver unintended consequences.