Testing and tracing for COVID-19

After a year of managing the COVID-19 pandemic, we’ve all become hyper-alert to any news about community-spread case numbers. But how are these cases detected and determined?

There are a range of measures to detect and trace COVID-19 in the community, each with its own advantages. For example, sewage testing can be used to determine whether COVID-19 is active in the surrounding area, while nasal and throat swabs can be administered to many people at low cost. 

Research by the ANU, which used highly sensitive antibody tests, found antibodies for COVID-19 in the blood of healthy people, and estimated that many people were carrying the virus undetected. This is just one of the trade-offs that different forms of testing make between speed, sensitivity and efficiency.

Join our panel of experts from across New Zealand, Taiwan and Australia to discuss different COVID-19 testing and tracing approaches.

• Dr Paul Bertsch, Science Director, CSIRO Land and Water, Australia
• Professor Michael Bunce, EPA Chief Scientist, New Zealand
• Professor Yee-Chun Chen, Director, Centre for Infection Control, National Taiwan University Hospital, Taiwan

Date: Tuesday 23 February 2021

Time: 5.30pm – 6.30pm AEDT

Venue: Online - livestream at the top of this page

Join the conversation on Twitter, tag @Science_Academy and use the hashtag #FightingCoV2.