Virologists from Germany have shown that combining samples and only testing individual samples if there is a positive result for the group could massively increase the capacity for coronavirus testing.
Testing has been a major limiting factor in the response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Healthcare systems across the world have been struggling to cope with the demand for testing, with many countries having insufficient capacity even to test healthcare workers.
Laboratory infrastructure is stretched and, in some cases, completely overwhelmed by the pandemic. Scientists from Germany, which has had an admirable testing capacity, have published details of a testing strategy that they say could massively increase capacity in laboratories around the