2 weeks ago. New Delhi, Delhi, India

‘Test, test, test’: Why scientists are questioning mass COVID testing

WHO advised ‘test, test, test’ to map disease spread
Denmark tested far more than other nations
China continues testing with its zero-COVID policy

Mass testing for COVID-19 was regarded as one of the most effective strategies to recognise and prepare for disease spread, but now, with a relatively less dangerous variant doing the rounds and vaccines and other treatments available, scientists, health officials and governments are questioning the need for mass testing. The two reasons why the ‘test, test, test’ approach is causing annoyance are that while the tests cost billions of dollars, there is no real study to underline the effectiveness of the approach.

Denmark is one of the countries most significantly questioning mass testing. In the initial days of the pandemic, the Danes went into a tizzy with testing deploying one of the most ubiquitous strategies to map out how the infection was spreading. But it has since come to surface that those countries that tested far less had the same number of infections as Denmark.

“We’ve tested so much more than other countries that we might have overdone it,” according to Jens Lundgren, a member of the Danish government’s COVID-19 advisory group and a professor of infectious diseases at the University of Copenhagen, speaking to Reuters.

China, on the other hand, is sticking to its guns on mass testing as state policy. Beijing’s zero-COVID strategy, while being criticised by citizens, has sought to thwart infection by ubiquitous testing.

Of countries that did not go overboard with testing was Japan. Tokyo has avoided large-scale testing and yet weathered the pandemic better than may other countries in terms of infection and death rates. Over time, Britain and France have also cut down on testing.

It was the World Health Organization (WHO) that called upon countries to ‘test, test, test’ after suspected cases of the coronavirus were identified. The health agency aimed to map disease spread and issue preparatory directions to countries on the basis of such testing. Global surveillance enabled scientists to understand the risk of illness, death and transmission.

Some experts and officials still believe that mass testing has its merits. Moreover, some of them worry, that pulling back on testing too quickly will leave the world vulnerable to new variants.

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‘Test, test, test’: Why scientists are questioning mass COVID testing

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