Key info


Date:
23 April 2020

Authors:
Nicholas C Grassly1, Marga Pons-Salort, Edward PK Parker, Peter J White, Kylie Ainslie, Marc Baguelin, Samir Bhatt, Adhiratha Boonyasiri, Olivia Boyd, Nicholas Brazeau, Lorenzo Cattarino, Constanze Ciavarella, Laura V Cooper, Helen Coupland, Zulma Cucunuba, Gina Cuomo-Dannenburg, Amy Dighe, Bimandra Djaafara, Christl A Donnelly, Ilaria Dorigatti, Sabine L van Elsland, Fabricia Ferreira Do Nascimento, Richard FitzJohn, Han Fu, Katy Gaythorpe, Lily Geidelberg, Will Green, Timothy Hallett, Arran Hamlet, Sarah Hayes, Wes Hinsley, Natsuko Imai, David Jorgensen, Edward Knock, Daniel Laydon, John Lees, Tara Mangal, Thomas Mellan, Swapnil Mishra, Gemma Nedjati-Gilani, Pierre Nouvellet, Lucy Okell, Alison Ower, Kris V Parag, Michael  Pickles, Manon Ragonnet-Cronin, Isaac Stopard, Hayley A Thompson, H. Juliette T Unwin, Robert Verity, Michaela Vollmer, Erik Volz, Patrick Walker, Caroline Walters, Haowei Wang, Yuanrong Wang, Oliver J Watson, Charles Whittaker, Lilith  Whittles, Peter Winskill, Xiaoyue Xi, Neil Ferguson

1Correspondence:
n.grassly@imperial.ac.uk

Download the full PDF for Report 16 See all reports

WHO Collaborating Centre for Infectious Disease Modelling, MRC Centre for Global Infectious Disease Analysis, Abdul Latif Jameel Institute for Disease and Emergency Analytics, Imperial College London, Vaccine Centre, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, UK

Now published in Lancet Infectious Diseases; 18-08-2020, doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/S1473-3099(20)30630-7 

Summary

The World Health Organization has called for increased molecular testing in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, but different countries have taken very different approaches. We used a simple mathematical model to investigate the potential effectiveness of alternative testing strategies for COVID-19 control. Weekly screening of healthcare workers (HCWs) and other at-risk groups using PCR or point-of-care tests for infection irrespective of symptoms is estimated to reduce their contribution to transmission by 25-33%, on top of reductions achieved by self-isolation following symptoms. Widespread PCR testing in the general population is unlikely to limit transmission more than contact-tracing and quarantine based on symptoms alone, but could allow earlier release of contacts from quarantine. Immunity passports based on tests for antibody or infection could support return to work but face significant technical, legal and ethical challenges. Testing is essential for pandemic surveillance but its direct contribution to the prevention of transmission is likely to be limited to patients, HCWs and other high-risk groups.

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