Heterogeneity in testing for infectious diseases

Abstract

Testing strategies have varied widely between nation states during the COVID-19 pandemic, in intensity as well as methodology. Some countries have mainly performed diagnostic testing while others have opted for mass-screening for the presence of SARS-CoV-2 as well. COVID passport solutions have been introduced, in which access to several aspects of public life requires either testing, proof of vaccination or a combination thereof. This creates a coupling between personal activity levels and testing behaviour which, as we show, leverages the heterogeneous behaviours in the population and turns this heterogeneity from a disadvantage to an advantage for epidemic control.

Modelling the impact of repeat asymptomatic testing policies for staff on SARS-CoV-2 transmission potential

“…The simplifying assumptions in this model are also likely to result in an over-estimate of effectiveness. For example, testing behaviour could be correlated with contact behaviour [47] and could provide false reassurance to those who are 'paucisymptomatic' which would greatly reduce its benefit [48] for the population as a whole. Similarly, infectiousness or testing behaviour may be correlated with symptoms, which could also skew these predictions depending on symptomatic isolation behaviours.…”

Heterogeneity in testing for infectious diseases

“…Data and relevant code for this research work are stored in GitHub: and have been archived within the Zenodo repository: [60]. The data are provided in the electronic supplementary material [61].…”