It's time to change how we track COVID-19 infections, says biostatistician nataliexdean
One of the best ways the world has to get a clear view of COVID-19 is going underused. It’s time to exploit the power of random sampling.
And undercounts are getting worse. Reinfections and breakthrough infections are rising, but they are often mild, so people go untested. The onslaught of Omicron cases has far outstripped many countries’ testing capacities. Last December, a testing site near me in Atlanta, Georgia, had a wait of three to four hours. In the United States, at-home lateral flow tests are finally becoming more readily available, so fewer people will seek PCR confirmation.
But waste water can’t pinpoint who in a community is getting infected and who is getting sick. With Omicron, hospitalizations in children have reached record highs. Yet infections in this age group are frequently missed. It’s clear there are more infections, but are those infections more severe? Knowing that is important for risk–benefit calculations around schooling, vaccinations and much more.
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