Antigen testing - cheap and fast- why not for schools?

[herecomesthsun]

Does anyone know anymore about this?

article from Nature here

If this, or similar, is what is being used in Italy to make sure people aren't carrying the virus off planes, then why can't we use this where there is a positive test in schools, say, for the other kids in the bubble?

Or to check whether the kid with the cough that might be a cold actually has infectious covid?

If it is quick, cheap and already out there, there why not use it?

Also, how is this different from the moonshot? (note I have spelt it politely)

And why do we need to spend however many millions/ billions on moonshot if there is already a useful, quick cheap antigen test?

Aren't these the machines which cost £35,000 which private schools are purchasing?
I'm not sure if PHE have validated them yet but maybe once they have then they will be used and be part of the moonshot approach?

From the article

"At the end of August, the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) granted emergency-use approval to a new credit-card-sized testing device for the coronavirus that costs US$5, gives results in 15 minutes and doesn’t require a laboratory or a machine for processing. "

So,my reading of this is that we are talking $5 per test, and it doesn't sound as though you need to pay £35k for a processing machine.

Given that we can barely get hold of tests at all, these would potentially be very useful, even as a temporary measure while there is further research ongoing to devise still faster/ more accurate/ cheaper tests,

Unfortunately once they are approved here, they will be prioritised for money-making sectors like aviation and sports venues.
I would prioritise schools and the NHS, but I don't get a say.

They are just not as sensitive as PCR which means asymptomatic cases or cases with a lower viral load will be given false negatives.

However I think they are better than nothing and I think they would be really useful in universities, schools, workplaces etc if people are tested regularly with them to catch them at times when they have a higher viral load.

cases with a lower viral load will be given false negatives A virologist was on the new a couple of days ago, Dr Sarah Pitt, talking about the viral load needed for a positive Covid-19 test. She said that positive results were being given currently that would be a negative result for other viruses. She implied there is normally a threshold for a positive result and that for Covid-19 there was none so a positive test result would be reported for amounts of virus that would not warrant a positive test for other viruses, and that did also increase the risk of false positives. So maybe the new tests that measure lower viral load are not necessarily a bad thing, especially as now there is evidence that asymptomatic people (due to not coughing or sneezing etc) do not pose particular risk to the general public (although this is not necessarily true for members of their household).

I was told that one of the issues with those kits, called ‘nudge’ I think, is that they can only process one sample at a time. So although it only takes 15 minutes per test, would take 7.5 hrs to process a class of 30, unless you purchased multiple machines. Am sure the technology will improve though

The article quoted implied that a machine wasn't needed for testing, that would suggest that the tests didn't have to be done one after another.

Presumably at Italian airports, the passengers are all being tested at the same time, rather than one after another?

There was a segment on the rapid testing in Italy on the news last week. Here

m.youtube.com/watch?feature=youtu.be&v=brq0NLN7uG0

Another Nature article on the different sorts of test in development here. It doesn't however mention MoonSh*t.

Cost I suppose. One testing machine or one experienced teacher...

According to the Nature article, there are fast antigen tests that cost $5 and don't need a processing machine... so you could have the tests and the teacher.

MoonSht*
I now have to go and get some kitchen roll to clean my spat out drink from my laptop screen.

I had forgotten about this new "2020 word" or "Borisism" until I read this