CHARLOTTE, N.C. — The nation's top infectious disease expert, Dr. Anthony Fauci, says a new method of testing for COVID-19, known as pool testing, could be the key to the widespread testing necessary to ending the coronavirus pandemic in America.
The idea of pool testing is to test groups of people together, rather than individuals. Pool testing combines samples from multiple people, which are then tested together for a group result. If the test is negative, then the entire group is clear of coronavirus; however, if it's positive, then each person in the group is recommended to receive a test as an individual.
Experts say pool testing has a lot of advantages, such as being more efficient and cost effective. It may also help pinpoint asymptomatic people who may not have been tested otherwise.
You might be thinking, "How accurate can this test really be?" The key to pool testing is the group can't be too big, because that could skew the results. The magic number is around 10 people. Experts say this method allows them to test 10 times more people across the country every day.