Bringing Clinics and Hospitals Up-to-speed Amidst COVID-19 Pandemic: Complementing Targeted Point of Care with Pooled Testing Strategy |Biomedgrid

The battle against COVID-19 has required extraordinary measures that have adversely affected the US economy and many aspects of American life. Healthcare systems across the world have taken a heavy toll and have had to cancel clinics and elective procedures; open more beds, convert operating rooms into intensive care beds to accommodate COVID-19 patients. Such diversion of resources and delay in medical attention for other health problems has resulted in an increase in non-COVID-19 related mortality throughout the world. In this article we lay out our proposals for a quick reopening of our hospitals and clinics for elective surgeries and other procedures that cannot be handled via telemedicine. The crux of our proposals is a smart COVID-19 screening mechanism that employs several different testing strategies such as point-of-care (POC) rapid antibody test kits, pooled testing and RT-PCR, in a complementary way so as to increase efficiency and feasibility. There is no doubt that for our healthcare system to work and survive, it must not only meet the unprecedented demands generated by COVID-19, but also be able to treat other illnesses and injuries at or close to its pre-pandemic level.