Can we test ourselves out of the Covid-19 pandemic?

This event will feature Michael Mina and be hosted by University College London. His presentation, “Mass testing as an exit strategy for the COVID-19 pandemic,” will take place from 11:15am – 11:30am ET. Learn more about and register for the event here.

In March 2020, the World Health Organization (WHO) declared the outbreak of COVID-19 a pandemic. A year on, we are still in the midst of it and many people are questioning how and when we may be able to return to our normal lives.

As several countries in Europe are now easing restrictions we will explore how mass asymptomatic testing may become one of the most important tools to reduce transmission, help to open the societies and bring the pandemic under control.

In 2020, independent research teams in the United Kingdom and US came up with the proposal to implement population testing of asymptomatic individuals as an exit strategy for the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic. Modelling studies have since demonstrated the feasibility of population testing in university and workplace settings. Testing programmes are currently being implemented in schools across the world. However, there are still many challenges in rolling-out large scale test programmes. Yet, mass testing could be a game changer in opening society.