At the dawn of the coronavirus pandemic, Western countries relied heavily on mass testing. It was believed that by identifying even asymptomatic infected, the situation could be brought under control. As it turned out, not everything is so simple.
Today, the countries of Europe can proudly declare that during the months of the pandemic, testing has become really large-scale. In the UK alone, according to official figures, about 1.3 million tests were carried out in the last week. This is 20 times more than in early April. France and Spain have also increased their capabilities. Such work is intended to help identify those who are infected and contain the spread of the pathogen without economically destructive quarantines. But testing in itself is not a panacea. Now laboratories in European countries are overloaded. Britain is generally forced to send samples to Italy and Germany, as it is not able to cope with the processing of analyzes on its own.
“We are slipping into the second wave of the pandemic without really learning the lessons from the first,” said Rinesh Parmar, head of the UK Doctors’ Association. “We are prepared for the perfect storm of problems that is looming over the winter.”
As winter approaches, public health advocates are sounding the alarm as the increased focus on testing distracts from other measures that are also needed to combat the pandemic, Bloomberg notes. While mass testing has helped identify even asymptomatic carriers with the virus declining over the summer, laboratories are now pushing their limits.
It got to the point that the authorities of European countries are beginning to retreat under the pressure of circumstances. Now they are forced to test only those with obvious symptoms of the disease, which also causes public concern.