Major challenges remain in COVID-19 testing

As COVID-19 deaths and hospitalizations begin to plateau and decline in hard-hit areas, our collective attention has turned to returning to work and regular activities. The economic devastation and potential negative health impacts of lockdown have been acutely felt everywhere. However, the phrase “when we have adequate testing” has become the siren song within many conversations around return, namely in reopening the economy.

Unfortunately, many of these conversations do not fully consider some critical issues around test availability, test characteristics, and—importantly—test strategy. These issues suggest a need to rapidly consider other methods of protecting the population during reentry that can be implemented to complement testing. Such protective methods could include physical barriers, universal masking (while acknowledging supply-chain issues with personal protective equipment), and physical distancing in public spaces.

Experts agree that testing is necessary, but our research has indicated that testing should be tiered, targeted, and prioritized, given the limited number and types of accurate tests we are likely to have globally in the short term.

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Πηγή: mckinsey