To the Editor,

Our ability to quickly and properly process COVID tests and follow up with good contact tracing is in many ways broken. To resolve this testing issue, why is group testing not being done? Group testing means combining a portion of the test samples from five people and analyzing them in one test. If there is no positive indication then all five are considered to be negative (i.e. no one has COVID). If a positive result is obtained then each of the samples must be tested separately to find which sample is positive. This method will save time and the use of reagent chemicals without jeopardizing the results.  It has been used successfully in the USA. Therefore, why is it not being utilized to help fix a broken system.

Dennis Choptiany
Markham