Testing people hours before an event can reduce COVID-19 transmission: study – CTV
July 29, 2022
Testing individuals hours before attending a social event can nearly half COVID-19 transmission rates, a new study by the Yale School of Public Health epidemiologists has found.
Researchers said in the study, published in the International Journal of Public Health on Tuesday, that a negative COVID-19 test taken 72 hours or more before arriving at a location is not enough to protect against transmission and only lowers transmission by around four per cent compared to testing not at all.
But, testing for COVID-19 on the same day reduces transmission by roughly 40 per cent, and when the test is done closer to the time of the event, the risk decreases even more, potentially up to 46.7 per cent, researchers said.
“We’re not the first people to say that you should test closer to an event,” Jeffrey Townsend, senior author of the study, said in a release. “But this study really nails it down: it matters an enormous amount—and here’s the curve that shows it.”
