Testing

PCR tests have improved dramatically during the pandemic, and have also gotten easier to perform.

Top infectious disease doctors break down the differences between tests to determine which diagnostic tool might be better at curbing transmission rates.

The new rapid COVID-19 test approved last week is cheap and fast, and if used correctly, could be the basis of a screening strategy to keep Americans safe as they return to school and work.

Dr. Tom Inglesby, director of the Center for Health Security of the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, and other health professionals are raising concerns about the CDC’s shifting guidelines over how and when people should be tested for COVID-19.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention issued a statement on Thursday expanding on its updated COVID-19 guidance on who should be tested.

Official case counts have dropped nationally but reporting problems and generally reduced testing in some states makes it hard to place any confidence that infection rates are improving.

Josh Sharfstein, professor of practice and vice dean for public health practice and community engagement at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, on the nuances of insurance coverage and expenses that accompany COVID-19 testing.

The US faced yet another coronavirus testing bottleneck this month, as high demand delayed results.

Diagnostic testing is key to containing COVID-19, says Dr. Jennifer Nuzzo, a senior scholar at the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security.

Testing per capita has declined steadily in at least six states over the last two weeks. Meanwhile, test positivity rates have risen in 32 states during the same time frame, according to data from Johns Hopkins University.

Dr. Amesh Adalja, senior scholar at the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security, on how testing delays are hindering efforts to control the outbreak.