CDC/NIH Team with Local Health Authorities to Promote, Evaluate Home COVID-19 Testing

As the COVID-19 crisis drags on, the primary focus of the federal government’s testing strategy continues to shift from medical diagnosis and treatment to broad testing of the asymptomatic for purposes of screening. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) new “Say Yes! COVID Test” initiative is an innovative program designed to enlist local public health authorities to promote screening at the community level. The Diagnostic Challenge Regrettably, COVID-19 infection remains a threat and frequent testing will be essential to make the return to work, school and society as safe as possible. According to the National Institutes of Health (NIH), along with social distancing, vaccination, wearing a mask and regular hand washing, frequent testing offers the best chance of containing the threat posed by the “silent spread” of COVID-19 that occurs when people are infected but do not yet exhibit symptoms. Although it is accurate, polymerase chain reaction (PCR) molecular testing performed by an offsite laboratory is not suited for such purposes. What is required are rapid tests that can provide reliable results at the point of care, including at home. In a recent study conducted by the NIH RADx initiative, researchers found that rapid antigen testing at least […]