Covid-19 tests need to be done in ‘hours’ to prevent second wave

Coronavirus testing needs to be done in a “matter of hours” in order to prevent a second wave, an expert has said.

Infectious disease specialist Professor David Heymann told a Chatham House briefing on Covid-19 that a second wave, or a resurgence of the virus, is not “inevitable” and could be mitigated with certain requirements.

Rapid diagnostics and contact tracing, quarantining of contacts and isolation of sick people – including isolation in health facilities – will interrupt the chain of transmission of the virus, according to Prof Heymann, who helped shut down the Sars outbreak in 2003.