Pool testing for coronavirus: How it works and what are the drawbacks
NEW YORK - Pool testing is when swab samples are taken from a group of people, thrown together, and tested at the same time instead of individually.
Dr. Purvi Parikh, an immunologist at NYU Langone Health, said that pool testing for COVID-19 infection could be helpful for low-suspicion groups, such as children going back to school or camp and for colleges and businesses looking to reopen.
Testing samples from a group of people all together in one batch saves time and money. It also expands testing to millions of Americans per day who may unknowingly be spreading the virus. Parikh said that pool testing is most accurate when it includes test samples from a group of fewer than 50 people.
If the results come back negative, then everyone in the group is negative. But the downside of pool testing is when it picks up a positive result. That means everyone in the pool has to be rescreened to find out who is positive and who is not.
Parikh said pool testing would not work in states like Florida and Arizona where cases are surging.
Pool testing was used during the AIDS epidemic. It was also done during World War II to quickly screen blood samples for syphilis from people who had been drafted into the military.