Mass confusion over mass testing

MASS testing now! The cry literally screams off the page in miles-long threads on social media, and it makes sense that it should, because without even being told by health experts — and the leadership of the World Health Organization (WHO) has told everyone, repeatedly — anyone with even a modest grasp of what is happening understands that testing for the presence of the coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) is the first logical step in stopping the Covid-19 pandemic. But, as just about everything about this unexpected, unwelcome and thoroughly unpleasant plague sweeping the globe has been, “mass testing” is not so simple as it sounds. That does not, however, mean that it cannot or should not be done.

The testing process