Finding ways to forge through the COVID-19 pandemic
This is part of our Coronavirus Update series in which Harvard specialists in epidemiology, infectious disease, economics, politics, and other disciplines offer insights into what the latest developments in the COVID-19 outbreak may bring. As the coronoavirus pandemic spreads and hunkered-down Americans wonder when and how they’ll get back on the job, a Harvard epidemiologist said a second type of test being developed could clear for work the small but rising numbers of those previously infected, and thus immune to the virus. Marc Lipsitch, director of the Center for Communicable Disease Dynamics at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, said development and use of serological testing — which is already done routinely to check exposure to other pathogens — could help identify those who may be immune. Lipsitch, speaking in a media conference call on Friday, said there’s no reason the second wave of testing should have to wait for completion...