COVID-19 has been the worst pandemic in the last 100 years. The causative agent of this disease, SARS-CoV-2, is highly transmissible in humans. As of August 20, 2021, SARS-CoV-2 has caused 210 million confirmed cases worldwide, resulting in 4.4 million deaths. Different governments have used different strategies to control this pandemic. Some have used a mitigation approach that aims at controlling the number of COVID-19 cases within a manageable number, whereas some have used a suppression approach that aims at reducing the number of COVID-19 cases to a minimum (1). Irrespective of which approach is used for controlling this pandemic, both approaches require comprehensive and accurate public health data to inform policy making or management. With the wide use of quantitative reverse transcription–PCR (RT–PCR) technology, it is now possible to provide accurate and timely laboratory diagnostic test results to public health experts and other stakeholders in a robust manner. This is in sharp contrast to the last influenza pandemic in 2009, in which the diagnosis in many clinical settings was mainly based on clinical observations (2), resulting in an underestimation of actual number of deaths caused by the pandemic influenza A (H1N1) 2009 virus.

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推动真正的正常：针对 COVID-19 的大规模筛查

COVID-19 是过去 100 年来最严重的流行病。这种疾病的病原体 SARS-CoV-2 在人类中具有高度传播性。截至 2021 年 8 月 20 日，SARS-CoV-2 已在全球造成 2.1 亿例确诊病例，导致 440 万人死亡。不同的政府采取了不同的策略来控制这种流行病。有些人使用了一种缓解方法，旨在将 COVID-19 病例的数量控制在可管理的范围内，而有些人使用了一种抑制方法，旨在将 COVID-19 病例的数量减少到最低限度 (1)。无论使用哪种方法来控制这种流行病，这两种方法都需要全面和准确的公共卫生数据来为政策制定或管理提供信息。随着定量逆转录-PCR（RT-PCR）技术的广泛应用，现在可以以稳健的方式向公共卫生专家和其他利益相关者提供准确和及时的实验室诊断测试结果。这与 2009 年上一次流感大流行形成鲜明对比，当时许多临床环境中的诊断主要基于临床观察 (2)，导致低估了 2009 年甲型 H1N1 大流行性流感造成的实际死亡人数病毒。