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Frequent, rapid testing can curb COVID-19 transmission within weeks: Study
Houston: Testing half the population weekly with inexpensive, rapid-turnaround COVID-19 tests can drive the pandemic toward elimination within weeks even if the tests are significantly less sensitive than gold-standard clinical diagnostics, a new study says.The research, published in the journal Science Advances, noted that such a strategy could lead to "personalised stay-at-home orders" without shutting down restaurants, bars, retail stores and schools.According to the scientists, including those from the University of Colorado at Boulder in the US, the sensitivity levels of the different types of COVID-19 tests currently used across the world vary widely.Antigen tests require a relatively high viral load -- about 1,000 times as much virus