Alliance for Pandemic Preparedness

September 21, 2020

Clinical Impact, Costs, and Cost-Effectiveness of Expanded SARS-CoV-2 Testing in Massachusetts

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  • Neilan et al. conducted a modeling study to examine testing strategies for SARS-CoV-2 under scenarios of different transmission intensity. In a scenario where transmission is slowing (Re=0.9), testing the entire population monthly and testing people with COVID-19 symptoms as needed would reduce infections by 63% and mortality by 44% compared to testing only patients with severe/critical symptoms warranting hospitalization, but would require >66-fold more tests/day with 5-fold higher costs. Despite modest sensitivity, low-cost (≤$5), repeat screening (every 14-day) of the entire population could be cost-effective in all epidemic settings.

Neilan et al. (Sept 18, 2020). Clinical Impact, Costs, and Cost-Effectiveness of Expanded SARS-CoV-2 Testing in Massachusetts. Clinical Infectious Diseases. https://doi.org/10.1093/cid/ciaa1418