FREQUENT RAPID MASS TESTING IS KEY TO PROTECTING ETHNIC GROUPS AS WE START TO OPEN UP ECONOMIES

 
 

FREQUENT RAPID MASS TESTING IS KEY TO PROTECTING ETHNIC GROUPS

 AS WE START TO OPEN UP ECONOMIES


      There is clear evidence that people from ethnic minority groups are almost three times more likely to contract Covid-19 and five times more likely to experience serious outcomes, according to the UK Parliamentary Office of Science and Technology (POST). Frequent rapid mass testing is vitally important to help protect ethnic minorities and those more vulnerable to contracting Covid-19.

     During the first 6 months of the pandemic, people from ethnic minority groups were more likely to contract the virus and also more likely to experience severe effects from infection that impact long term health and mortality. Lockdown measures have also disproportionately affected some communities more than others.

     Evidence suggests the reason for higher risk to minority groups is largely due to social inequalities such as housing, occupation risk, access to healthcare and regular testing. Lockdown measures have disproportionately affected some communities more than others. Those from Bangladeshi and Black African communities were more likely to have experienced financial insecurity or mental health issues.
Car manufacturer Bentley has adopted a rapid mass testing programme, with over 15,000 members of staff using these simple to use test kits at it’s factory in Crewe, UK since May 2020, and as a result has no transmission issues or infection in their working environments. Bentley said that this helped them reduce the risk of job instability whilst providing a safe environment for the most vulnerable within their diverse workforce.

     With this mass testing approach, we can identify and isolate cases of the virus in less time and with more efficiency. This means more chains of transmission can be broken, preventing the virus to spread. This will allow us to protect more groups of society that are more vulnerable to transmission, whilst helping to reopen the economy, which will in turn help many groups and communities wellbeing and mental health.

      With the introduction of frequent mass lateral flow testing, businesses and companies can begin to welcome employees back into the workplace, helping to bring back a sense of normality to many, whilst providing greater stability. As well as this, being within the physical workplace will allow those vulnerable to have greater access to civil societies working with employers. Workplaces functioning will also allow for the economy to reopen, providing greater financial stability to many struggling areas of society.

     Following on from UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s quoted £7bn mass testing “Moonshot” programme where the government is deploying over £1.2bn’s worth of rapid lateral flow antigen tests to identify asymptomatic cases in communities and workplaces.

     In what many believe was a game changer in preventing lockdowns across the world, in the UK, community and workplace lateral flow rapid test kits (LFTs) have been mobilised now for door-to-door delivery – the UK government has secured more than 400 million of these kits – for its “Test to Suppress” strategy as well as to address fears that the South African variant had broken out in areas of the country.

     Many other countries, including Canada, Japan, France, Hungary as well as industries are now adopting this regular rapid testing strategy.

      The World Nano Foundation and scientific leaders say regular use of inexpensive mass lateral flow rapid antigen test kits is the way to beat COVID-19, its variants, and future viruses. Governments and politicians are now reducing the spread of the virus and ensuring a quicker return to normality for their electorate and themselves by adopting a mass testing approach to pinpoint hotspots, thus targeting areas, and preventing wide scale restrictions.

     As vaccination quickens for vulnerable members of society, the next prize is to get the world’s economies moving, with mass frequent testing as the key, using the mantra ‘test to suppress’, and as an early warning system to protect against new strains and future outbreaks. By using mass rapid testing, it can be identified where there are infectious cases and ensure that the virus is not passed on, breaking chains of transmission and allowing non-infected communities to continue without disruption.

     These simple-to-manufacture rapid tests have shown a thousand-fold increase in the effectiveness and accuracy of testing with this technology. The kits can produce a positive result even when there are fewer antigens to the virus in the sample – vital for finding asymptomatic individuals and ‘super-spreaders’.

     In what many believe was a game changer in preventing lockdowns across the world, in the UK, community and workplace lateral flow rapid test kits (LFTs) have been mobilised now for door-to-door delivery – the UK government has secured more than 400 million of these kits – for its “Test to Suppress” strategy as well as to address fears that the South African variant had broken out in areas of the country.
     Innova Medical – the world's largest manufacturer of rapid lateral flow antigen tests is ramping up to 50 million a day by the spring – has also confirmed that its COVID-19 product is effective in detecting variant strains such as the British (Kent), South African, and Brazilian variants, which appear more contagious than the earlier strains.

      "As these dangerous strains show signs of increased transmissibility across communities, the global effort to eliminate COVID-19 requires frequent, comprehensive and equitable testing that can detect these emerging strains," said Daniel Elliott, President and CEO of Innova Medical Group.
Elliot added that numerous studies have shown that rapid antigen tests are an important tool for identifying infectious people quickly and equitably, even when they may not have COVID-19 symptoms, in ways not possible with slower, more expensive, centralised lab-based tests.

     Workplace and community rapid mass testing is already starting to take place to keep economies moving and the entertainment and sports industries are said to be looking at a ‘day pass’ testing approach using LFT kits, in the same way that temperature checks were made on people using restaurants and pubs between lockdowns.

     World Health Organisation Special Envoy on COVID-19, David Nabarro, had already suggested this approach:
     "We’ve seen it (rapid mass testing) used in many different locations, for example in trying to keep aircraft free of people who’ve got COVID or looking after major events.”
Oxford’s Regius Professor of Medicine, Sir John Bell underlined the benefit of these tests removing infectious people from high-risk environments: “They’ve found 25,000 cases just in healthcare, which may have prevented tens of thousands of cases of the disease.”

     The World Nano Foundation (WNF) promotes healthcare technology and predicts that mass testing is central to future pandemic protection.

    The not-for-profit organisation’s Co-founder Paul Sheedy said: “Our research shows how healthcare diagnostics technology will shift dramatically to a more decentralised community early intervention model, against potential epidemics and pandemics.

     “Our own COVIDlytics™ modelling shows that an intensive front line ‘Test to Suppress’ campaign using rapid test kits available to the individual will allow early detection and immediate isolation, reducing the need for lockdowns.

     “And our simulation maps how consecutive daily tests for three days can rapidly identify and isolate infectious people. Weekly testing can then sustain a low infection rate even in a large population.

     “A key point previously missed by some experts is that high quality rapid lateral flow tests are not for people who already think they have COVID-19; it’s about everyone else testing frequently to check they are not infectious.

     “Used alongside vaccines and other preventative methods, these simple tests have been developed from colloidal gold nanoparticle research and are a vital component in the battle to defeat the virus and it’s future variants.

     “Rapid community testing is simpler, faster, cheaper, more effective and mobilises everyone to help themselves, their relatives, friends, and colleagues, to keep everyone safe.

“As West Africa reeled under the impact of Ebola (2014-16) the world watched with bated breath to see if the ‘beast’ would go global, but frequent mass rapid testing was deployed at community level multiple times over a few weeks stopping that terrible disease in its tracks.

      “With the work that we do, we know that there are even more exciting technologies on the way that will be central to the world’s fight for pandemic protection and future healthcare.
“We have already seen the danger from not being on our guard against renewed viral threats. Spanish Flu struck in 1918, killing up to 50 million people in four waves, the last two being most deadly because public health warnings were not adhered to.”

About The World Nano Foundation:

The World Nano Foundation is a not-for-profit membership organisation with 75,000 subscribers and users in 40 countries working on international commercialisation of nanoscale technologies in 16 industry sectors and collaborates with a wide variety of partners, maximising support and funding bringing advanced technology to the world and commerce. This is supported by many industry and academic groups developing and creating a legacy for nanotechnology innovation.


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