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Dr. “Whichever way you look at it, it will either distort any insight we may have about infection numbers or our ability to detect new variants as they emerge,” Paterson said. Said.
Experts warned that it would be difficult to restart surveillance programs of the coronavirus, officially known as SARS-CoV-2, when a new variant emerges.
“If there’s one thing we know about SARS-CoV-2, it’s that it always surprises us,” said Paul Elliott, an epidemiologist at Imperial College London and principal investigator of one of the interrupted community surveys. “Things can change really quickly.”
Other countries are also applying the live with Covid philosophy to their surveillance. Denmark’s testing rate has dropped nearly 90 percent from its January peak. The Danish government announced on March 10 that tests will only be required for certain medical reasons, such as pregnancy.
Oxford virologist Astrid Iversen, who has consulted with the Danish government, expressed her concern that the country is trying to convince her that the pandemic is over. “The virus didn’t get the email,” she said.
He said that with the drop in testing, the daily number of cases in Denmark does not reflect the real situation of the pandemic as well as it used to. But the country is rolling out wastewater tests, which may work well enough to track new variants. If wastewater shows an alarming increase, the country may resume testing.
“I’m sure Denmark can grow,” he said.
Israel has also seen a drastic drop in testing, but Ran Balicer, director of the Clalit Research Institute, said the country’s health systems will continue to monitor variants and monitor the effectiveness of vaccines. “For us, living with Covid doesn’t mean ignoring it,” he said.
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