Pooled testing is being seen as an effective way to conduct covid-19 tests on more people while reducing the load on laboratories.
The Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) has also recommended using it in low-prevalence areas. Mint analyses the pros and cons. What is pooled testing and how is it done? Pooled testing involves putting multiple swab samples collected from people who may have been exposed to the SARS-Cov2 virus, and testing all of them using one real-time polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) test kit.
If this pool tests negative, it is concluded that the entire group is covid-19 negative. If the bulk sample tests positive, it indicates that at least one person in the mix has covid-19.