I googled 'mass testing' and 'news' and am seeing stories like this worldwide --
Beijing launches mass testing to stem virus outbreak
Beijing on Friday kicked off a drive to test two million people in 48 hours as the city rushed to snuff out a new local cluster of cases believed to be linked to a more contagious virus variant.
and
Mass testing for asymptomatic Covid to be rolled out across England
January 10, 2021 1:58 am by Clive Cookson and Anna Gross
The government is to roll out mass community testing across England to detect people who have Covid-19 but show no symptoms.
The programme, announced by health secretary Matt Hancock on Sunday morning, will enable all 317 English local authorities to offer rapid testing. They will use “lateral flow” devices, which give results within half an hour but are less accurate than the lab-based PCR tests regarded as the gold standard for diagnosing infection.
Councils will be encouraged to target testing at people who cannot work from home during the lockdown, so they can self-isolate if they are carrying the virus.
The government is also asking businesses — particularly in the food, retail, energy and manufacturing sectors — to join the asymptomatic testing drive. Companies already running pilot programmes include Apetito, John Lewis, Octopus Energy, Tate & Lyle Sugars and Tata Steel.
“With roughly a third of people who have coronavirus not showing symptoms, targeted asymptomatic testing and subsequent isolation is highly effective in breaking chains of transmission,” Mr Hancock said.
“Lateral flow tests have already been hugely successful in finding positive cases quickly — and every positive case found is helping to stop the spread — so I encourage employers and workers to take this offer up,” he added.
Beijing launches mass testing to stem virus outbreak
Beijing on Friday kicked off a drive to test two million people in 48 hours as the city rushed to snuff out a new local cluster of cases believed to be linked to a more contagious virus variant.
and
Mass testing for asymptomatic Covid to be rolled out across England
January 10, 2021 1:58 am by Clive Cookson and Anna Gross
The government is to roll out mass community testing across England to detect people who have Covid-19 but show no symptoms.
The programme, announced by health secretary Matt Hancock on Sunday morning, will enable all 317 English local authorities to offer rapid testing. They will use “lateral flow” devices, which give results within half an hour but are less accurate than the lab-based PCR tests regarded as the gold standard for diagnosing infection.
Councils will be encouraged to target testing at people who cannot work from home during the lockdown, so they can self-isolate if they are carrying the virus.
The government is also asking businesses — particularly in the food, retail, energy and manufacturing sectors — to join the asymptomatic testing drive. Companies already running pilot programmes include Apetito, John Lewis, Octopus Energy, Tate & Lyle Sugars and Tata Steel.
“With roughly a third of people who have coronavirus not showing symptoms, targeted asymptomatic testing and subsequent isolation is highly effective in breaking chains of transmission,” Mr Hancock said.
“Lateral flow tests have already been hugely successful in finding positive cases quickly — and every positive case found is helping to stop the spread — so I encourage employers and workers to take this offer up,” he added.
