(File photo/ CKOM News Staff)

By Logan Stein

U of S professor floats the idea of ‘pool testing’ for back-to-school plan

Aug 12, 2020 | 6:11 PM

A microbiologist at the University of Saskatchewan believes the province needs a different approach to COVID-19 testing in schools.

Kyle Anderson, an assistant professor of biochemistry, microbiology and immunology at the U of S, thinks pooled testing should be used for Saskatchewan schools.

Anderson, who has five kids of his own, believes the government’s current plan lacks a lot of attention.

Pool testing, also known as surveillance testing, tests multiple samples of COVID-19 in one batch.

“This would get as many tests done as possible. There can be 10 swabs washed into the same solution to make a single test,” said Anderson. “Whether one student has the virus or two, each student in that group would be tested individually afterwards to catch the cases before they could spread.”

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In Anderson’s method, each classroom could undergo weekly pool testing.

Anderson added that constant testing could help identify asymptomatic kids who may be unknowingly spreading COVID-19.

If a test result comes back negative, the classroom would be OK until the next week. If there was a positive case, individualized tests would be done on everyone in the group.

Saskatchewan’s chief medical health officer, Dr. Saqib Shahab, said during a media conference Tuesday that broad testing at schools isn’t part of the current back-to-school plan.

“Children who are in school are a high property. We need to make sure tests are done in a timely way,” Shahab said.

Despite the current plan in place, Shahab added that pool testing is a very interesting concept.

Anderson described more important elements of broader testing in schools in a video he shared to Facebook on Monday.