Reducing the Number of Tests for COVID-19 Infection via Group Testing Methodologies

Abstract

Total economic shutdown being detrimental to a nation’s prosperity, most governments are reopening businesses and schools with the requirement of frequent and mass-scale testing to determine each person’s status of COVID-19 infection. Obviously, the costs add up quickly and impose a heavy economic toll. As a way out of this dilemma, employers and administrators should consider seriously the application of group testing methodologies.

Group testing methods check samples in batches, rather than individually, for the presence of a disease. If the group tests positive, then the group is investigated further to identify who all are positive. On the other hand, if the group tests negative, not just once but also a second or a third time, then everyone within the group is cleared for activity. With a carefully chosen protocol, group testing costs can be 30-80% lower than those of individual testing, with the savings being higher when prevalence of the disease is lower.