Covid-19 testing needs a new working model with clear priory sets
Testing everyone is impossible, so creating a hierarchy of who does get tested and treated is vital
The government’s guidelines about how to contain the Covid-19 pandemic require considerable revision. They rely far too heavily on the strategy of testing as many people as possible (contact tracing), which has a limited yield and, given the shortages of coronavirus test kits and the processing backlogs in the labs, this approach will not help deal with this pandemic. We also don’t have the systems in place to reach people in remote areas.
So how should we change the guidelines to deal with the continuing exponential rise and expected spike in Covid-19 cases at a time when increasing numbers of people are returning to work? We need to stratify testing, with most-at-risk groups prioritised for testing. Broadly, the stratification should be in three priority groups, which can be further sub-grouped...
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