Rapid tests have failed to slow the pandemic

The development of rapid coronavirus tests over the summer sparked a lot of hope. Although less accurate than the gold-standard PCR test, they were cheap and fast. The thinking was the quantity of tests being performed would have a quality all its own.

In an attempt to slow the spread of the virus, the White House announced a plan to buy and distribute 150 million rapid tests to high-risk areas by the end of the year. But as explained by Bonnie LaFleur and Katherine Ellingson, biostatisticians and epidemiologists at the University of Arizona, the current landscape of rapid testing has little chance of slowing down the pandemic. Around 20 million tests would need to be performed every day to slow the spread of the coronavirus. And of the 150 million tests promised, only around 40 million have been distributed to date.

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