This Fourth of July weekend we’ll be
celebrating our freedom from England 245 years ago and from the state’s COVID-19 restrictions that were lifted just last month. Californians can gather guilt-free with members of other households, enjoy the air conditioning inside their favorite restaurants, and fill the stands at Angel Stadium.
But in Los Angeles County, the atmosphere will be a little less festive.
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Health officials know
the coronavirus won’t be taking a holiday. And with the highly transmissible Delta variant on the loose, they’re not taking any chances.
They’ve already asked Angelenos to go back to wearing face masks indoors even if they’re fully vaccinated against COVID-19. That puts California’s most populous county at odds with state health officials as well as with experts at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Frequent testing improves the detection of SARS-CoV-2
Detecting SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, improves with regularity of testing, whether using rapid antigen tests or PCR molecular tests. The PCR test is considered the gold standard for diagnosing COVID-19 infection, but cost and infrastructure issues, as well as wait times for PCR results, have limited its use more broadly as a screening tool for asymptomatic people because rapid results are needed to interrupt the chain of transmission.
In a highly anticipated study that compares rapid antigen and laboratory PCR approaches for COVID-19 serial screening, researchers affiliated with the National Institutes of Health s Rapid Acceleration of Diagnostics (RADx) initiative reported results from 43 people infected with the virus. They found that both testing methods were equally effective in detecting SARS-CoV-2 infection when tests were given on a regular cadence every three days.
Frequent testing increases chance of detecting COVID-19 infections
The chance of detecting the virus that causes COVID-19 increases with more frequent testing, no matter the type of test, a new study found. Both polymerase chain reaction and antigen tests, paired with rapid results reporting, can achieve 98% sensitivity if deployed at least every three days.
This study shows that frequent testing can be really effective at catching COVID-19 infections and potentially blocking transmission. There are many places where vaccination is not yet widespread. With the rise of variants, testing remains an important tool for blocking the spread of the virus.
Christopher Brooke, study leader, virologist and professor of microbiology, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign
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