South Korea’s broad coronavirus testing strategy could flatten curve in some US areas, expert says

And she noted that the level of experience of the person performing the test can affect the specimen quality

The doctors said it will be particularly important to improve serological tests, which can reveal whether people who do not have symptoms of COVID-19 have developed antibodies for the disease, and who could transmit the virus to others. Results of serological tests take longer than rapid tests.

“Ideally, we’re going to need to couple acute diagnoses” from rapid screening tests “with serologic testing,” Hanson said.

“Because they will give us an idea of who is left in our community who is at risk of developing an infection,” she said.

She said that having a clear picture of how many people are carrying the virus “will be very important to determining” by the fall and winter “where we need to limit people’s social interactions.”

Caliendo said there “are are a couple of” serological tests approved on an emergency use basis by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration “right now.”

But, she added, “We don’t know how well they perform.”

Caliendo pointed out that “typically, antibodies take a week or so to form.”

“You will have patients who have infections … but who do not have antibodies” that would show up when they are tested, Caliendo said.

That means tests performed in later weeks of infections might be better at assessing overall infection rates.

Hanson added that another factor to consider is the open question of whether a person who has developed antibodies to COVID-19 can develop the disease again.

“We still need to work out what developing an antibody response means, whether it’s protective or not,” Hanson said.

During a news conference Tuesday, New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, whose state currently has the most number of COVID-19 cases in the U.S., emphasized the need to improve rapid testing capacity so that New York and surrounding states can start returning to normal life.

“You have to have that testing, and you have to have that testing on scale,” Cuomo said, referring to the types of tests that can determine whether someone has the coronavirus within 15 minutes.

“We have about a 50,000-person testing capacity, which is nice but not of a scale that’s going to make a large difference.”

He said that no single private company currently has the capacity to produce enough rapid coronavirus tests to satisfy the number that will need to be done.

Cuomo encouraged companies that might be able to increase their capacity to contact New York state’s Empire Development Corp., which is willing to fund companies for that effort.

Cuomo also said that the New York state Health Department has developed and approved testing for coronavirus antibodies, but added that such testing capacity has to be increased.

— Additional reporting by Noah Higgins-Dunn.

Article source: https://www.cnbc.com/2020/04/07/coronavirus-south-korea-testing-could-flatten-pandemic-curve-in-us-areas.html