Curbing COVID-19 spread: How a comprehensive response strategy can help disrupt transmissions TODAY

2021 U.S.-Africa Business Summit - Curbing COVID-19 spread: How a comprehensive response strategy can help disrupt transmissions TODAYWednesday, July 28, 2021This Health session from the 2021 U.S.-Africa Business Summit, focused on the critical role that wide-spread and rapid COVID testing can play now to help countries fight against the pandemic by disrupting current transmissions on the continent.Ambassador Deborah Birxmoderated the session and kicked off the conversation noting that rapid COVID testing is a public health intervention in and of itself, and it should not be seen only as a diagnostic tool and that through the years of HIV investment on the continent amazing work has been done to help make HIV testing more accessible and approachable by emphasizing the importance of knowing your HIV status and those lessons can inform how we increase rapid COVID testing in our communities.Prof. Salim Abdool Karimwith CAPRISA noted the need for all public health interventions to be used on the continent, and how rapid, wide-spread testing should be seen as a public health tool to help disrupt COVID transmissions in the community.Dr. David Ripinwith the Clinton Health Access Initiative (CHAI) discussed the ways that CHAI is working with countries on their COVID testing strategies, including scaling up wide-spread rapid testing stating that tests results received in 1-2 days limit public health professionals abilities to control the spread of COVID. He further noted that wide-spread rapid testing should be implemented now in order for countries to achieve their societal goals, including reopening of the economy and the ability to gather again.MarijkeWijnrokswith the Global Fund stated that they see rapid antigen tests as a key tool for countries to use in their fight against COVID-19 and they have released guidance encouraging countries to scale up rapid antigen tests, including and especially in non-clinical settings in order to find and isolate asymptomatic community spread of COVID.Zaandre Hitzerothwith Medicare 24 discussed how they use wide-spread rapid testing to regularly screen their employees in their 18 occupational and primary health centers across South Africa to keep them and their clients safe. He also discussed how their clinics provide employee wide-spread rapid testing for several industry sectors in South Africa as well, as rapid testing provides the timely results needed to know if employees are infectious and need to isolate to keep their colleagues and communities safe.