The program, called “Say Yes! COVID Test,” will make rapid, at-home antigen tests free to every resident of Pitt County, N.C., and Hamilton County, Tenn. It will provide enough for a total of 160,000 people to test themselves for COVID-19 three times a week for a month.
The tests are designed to help identify people who may not realize they’re infectious and let them know to self-isolate before they can transmit the virus to others.
Mathematical models suggest this type of screening testing can reduce virus transmission, but this program will be a real-world test of that concept, Bruce Tromberg, PhD, director of National Institute of Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering, the division of the NIH which is supplying the tests for the program, told The New York Times.
Residents of the two counties can either order their tests online for home delivery or pick them up at a local distribution site. An online tool will provide testing instructions and information on how to understand the test results.
Researchers at the University of North Carolina and Duke University will compare the positivity, case and hospitalization rates in the two counties to those in similar communities that are not participating in the program to evaluate the impact of frequent self-administered testing.
Read the NIH’s full news release here.
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