Rate of COVID-19 testing in most impacted countries worldwide as of Jan. 18, 2021

As of January 18, 2021, the United States had performed the third most COVID-19 tests per one million population among the countries most severely impacted by the pandemic. The U.S. has conducted almost 286 million COVID-19 tests in total.

Testing is the key to controlling virus

The World Health Organization sent a clear message to all countries in mid-March: test, test, and test. The more tests that are conducted, the easier it becomes to track the spread of the virus and reduce transmission. Many countries followed the advice, identifying a greater number of cases at an earlier stage, isolating infected individuals, and limiting the spread of the disease to others. However, testing capacity around the world has become stretched, and many infections are going undetected. Iran is one country that has suffered due to a shortage of critical supplies, including test kits and face masks.

What is an antibody test?

Countries around the world are making widespread testing a key part of their plans to exit lockdown. However, the global demand for antibody test kits is huge. The kits are used to identify antibodies in a person’s blood sample. The presence of antibodies means the individual has been exposed to the SARS-CoV-2 virus and developed antibodies to help fight it. Antibody tests are important in detecting infections in people who are asymptomatic, i.e., showing few or no symptoms. Asymptomatic carriers may have unwittingly contributed to the rapid spread of the disease.