Is mass testing for COVID-19 in healthcare workers without symptoms necessary?

What is it about?

Vaccination and reducing transmission are the two main ways of ending the COVID-19 pandemic. Healthcare workers (HCWs) interact with many people every day. This puts them at risk of catching COVID-19. But HCWs also interact with people who are at risk for falling severely ill. This puts them at risk of spreading the disease as well. Sometimes, people might be infected with COVID-19 but might not show any symptoms. In this study, researchers tested HCWs who did not show any symptoms of COVID-19 infection. They found that 0.2% of these HCWs had positive COVID-19 tests. This reflected the low rate of COVID-19 infection in the community.

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Photo by Daniele D'Andreti on Unsplash

Photo by Daniele D'Andreti on Unsplash

Why is it important?

Mass testing is one of the ways by which the spread of COVID-19 can be stopped. There are many opinions on the best mass testing strategy. Mass testing for HCWs is also important. This is because HCWs take care of us, especially during pandemics. We need to protect HCWs from infection. We also need to make sure HCWs are not unwittingly spreading infection either. At the same time, testing facilities are limited. We need to prioritize testing. These results show us that we do not need to test HCWs without symptoms when infections are low in the community. Mass testing of people without symptoms might be more useful when infection rates are out of control. KEY TAKEAWAY: Only 0.2% of HCWs without symptoms had positive COVID-19 tests. This information will help us prioritize testing. Studies like this can help us plan testing campaigns and COVID-19 management strategies.