'It's Kitchen Sink Time': Fast, Less-Accurate Coronavirus Tests May Be Good Enough

Experts are revising their views on the best methods to detect infections, setting aside long-held standards so that the spread of the virus can be more quickly tracked and contained.

As the coronavirus pandemic continues to uncontrollably spread across the United States, experts are rethinking their approach to testing. Up until this point, doctors and researchers have primarily relied on PCR tests, which are extremely accurate but labor and time intensive. One of the main limitations of this type of testing is the timing, which has resulted in widespread testing shortages for months. Experts answer to this? Faster, less accurate tests in large supply. Daniel Larremore, an applied mathematician who models infectious diseases at the University of Colorado Boulder described this quantity over quality approach as “taking as many shots on goal as we can,” with the goal being “to detect as many infections as possible.”