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COVID-19: Change our Testing Tactics!

Opinion: All levels of government must take decisive, co-ordinated action now before it's too late opinion piece by salman qureshi and colleagues from the critical care network

Dr. Dick Menzies’ latest opinion piece on COVID-19 appears in the Montreal Gazette. According to Dr. Menzies, the best plan for testing is to focus it on the asymptomatic individuals who interact closely and regularly with people who are symptomatic and have tested positive. This is where we will find the virus-positive, asymptomatic individuals in the community. Identifying these seemingly healthy yet highly contagious people will greatly reduce the spread of the virus.

Dr. Dick Menzies, MD, is a RESP member and Meakins-Christie Associate Member and Director of the WHO Collaborating Centre for TB research at the MUHC. Jonathon Campbell is a postdoctoral fellow under the supervision of Dr. Dick Menzies in the Department of Epidemiology, Biostatistics, and Occupational Health at McGill University.

This thought-provoking article can be read in full here:

Opinion: COVID-19 testing must look below the tip of the iceberg. We believe systematic testing of asymptomatic public-facing workers with significant potential exposure is essential to epidemic control. Special to Montreal Gazette. By Jonathon Campbell, Dick Menzies, Tim Evans. June 9, 2020.