Profiles of COVID-19 Tests: Accuracy, Performance and Timing
Molecular tests, antigen tests, antibody tests, rapid tests, serological tests, PCR tests, viral RNA tests… do all these names confuse you? Here the ultimate guide to COVID-19 tests to shed light on your doubts and to interpret the numbers of the second wave.
The second wave of COVID-19 is here. Each day Europe is breaking its daily new cases record.
Without a vaccine, the best way to contain this second wave is through testing: rapid identification, self-isolation of individuals who test positive for SARS-CoV2, and an efficient tracing system operating on a large scale, are considered the key strategies to try to slow down the spread of the virus.
Since the first Covid-19 cases, attitudes toward testing have evolved significantly.
During the first months of the sanitary emergency, testing was intended to be diagnostic and confirm infections in people with (severe) symptoms.
Tests were entirely based on the Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) technology.
Now, since we now know much more about the virus and its transmission, there is also the necessity to deploy mass screening tests able to provide information on current…
