Dmytro Nayda

As of September 28th, 2020, the World Health Organization(WHO) has taken the next step in mitigating the spread of COVID-19 across the globe. The WHO has decided to team up with the Bill and Melinda Gates foundation, and drug manufacturers Abbott and SD Biosensor to produce and distribute 120 million COVID-19 tests over the next six months to low and middle-income countries.

One of the biggest problems in facing COVID-19 is the lack of testing. The inability to locate and track the spread of the virus is one of the biggest issues the world has at the moment in regards to COVID-19. Before anybody is able to figure out whether they’re infected or not, they may pass on the virus to others.

The deal covers 133 countries, including many in Latin America, which is currently the region most affected by the pandemic in terms of deaths and infection rates. Out of the 35,762,664 cases world wide, Latin America is responsible for 9,812,945 of those cases. And not only do they have the highest amount of cases, but they also have the lowest rates of daily testing.

The test will be much more affordable and getting results will only take 15-30 minutes. The price for the test will be $5 and the Global Fund announced that it will produce $50 million for the first 10 million tests from its COVID-19 Response Mechanism. The Director General of WHO says: “High-quality rapid tests show us where the virus is hiding, which is key to quickly tracing and isolating contacts and breaking the chains of transmission. The tests are a critical tool for governments as they look to reopen economies and ultimately save both lives and livelihoods.”

Lastly, current antigen tests for COVID-19 are laboratory based and require a medical professional to conduct the test. The WHO’s test will come with their policy guidance on the use of antigen-based rapid diagnostic test. This will not only make the test easy to use, it will also be possible to complete the test in near-person, decentralized healthcare settings.

Testing is a crucial part of preventing the spread of the disease. With the ability to test more people, more often, we can better isolate the virus and take better care of the infected. Maybe over the next six months as testing becomes more frequent we can see a decline in the deaths worldwide. Maybe this is the next bog step in ending COVID-19.