Administration considers group testing for the coronavirus

To address mounting cases of COVID-19, the Trump administration is considering testing groups of people together, a strategy that would allow health officials to test more people with fewer resources. In this method, a sample from a group of people would be combined into a pool, allowing one test to be used for the group. If the test comes back negative, then all of the individuals in the pool would be deemed negative. Only a positive result would require the individuals in the pool to be tested separately. Director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases Anthony Fauci, MD, explained the need to cast a “broad net” to learn what percentage of people in the country are infected. Pool testing could increase the ability of health departments to meet that need. (Washington Post story, 6/26/20)