COVID test pooling hampered by high positivity rates and logistical hurdles
Adam Bonislawski
Print
In the early days of the coronavirus pandemic, pooled molecular COVID-19 testing was promoted as an approach that could increase lab capacity while saving valuable resources such as reagents and other supplies.
But as COVID-19 positivity rates have reached new highs and because of the logistical and personnel challenges involved in running pooled testing, implementation of the method has been limited, especially within smaller facilities, said a number of laboratory heads.
As the country struggled with supply chain issues when ramping up COVID-19 testing in the early months of the pandemic, a number of laboratories and researchers began exploring pooled testing as one way to address these challenges. Commonly used in applications like blood banking, a pooled approach tests multiple samples at once, running them in a single reaction.
A teenage driver has been fined $220 for her part in a double-fatal car crash that killed an elderly Addison County couple last September in Charlotte.
Public records show Isabel Jennifer Seward, who comes from a prominent Atlanta family, received a Vermont civil traffic ticket for an offense listed as âdriving on roadways laned for traffic.â
Seward pleaded no contest to the civil traffic ticket and was assessed $220 by the Vermont Judicial Bureau, court records show.
They also show Sewardâs mother paid the fine.
Seward, who turned 17 last week, provided at least 3 conflicting stories about her cell phone leading up to and after the crash near Church Hill Road on Sept. 8, according to the Vermont State Police accident report.
With masks and moxie, Norwich greets spring semester students
New electronic scheduling system, staff efforts smooth COVID-19 testing and arrivals, officials say
By the time students began arriving on Norwich University’s Northfield, Vermont, campus Friday for the Spring 2021 semester, teams of Norwich faculty and staff were ready. Electronic message boards in campus buildings were loaded with greetings, COVID-19 tests were waiting at Plumley Armory and Facilities Operations staff members stood ready to move snow and ease movement.
As in the fall, university departments across campus the School of Nursing, the Center for Civic Engagement, Facilities Operations, athletic coaches, faculty and staff had followed President Mark C. Anarumo’s “Norwich Together” motto to prepare. In his electronic message board statement to students, College of National Services Dean Matthew Smith told students, “Take care of your wingman/battle buddy and let’s get after it!”
Seven Days Last year, the cover of
Seven Days annual Wellness Issue, published on January 15, 2020, depicted a young woman in an 802 tank top sitting in a serene, cross-legged lotus position inside a protective bubble. With her were a steaming mug of tea, a vial of CBD and other cozy-healthy accoutrements. Said bubble floated above, wait for it, a flaming dumpster. The image was not meant to be prophetic. We
actually thought the world was a dumpster fire at the time. In January. We ll wait for you to stop laughing. The subsequent months were . well, they weren t good, folks. You were there, so we ll spare you the triggering rundown of 2020 s Greatest Hits. Let s just say things devolved, and quickly.