Decontamination and control of the Covid-19 epidemic: bundling tests for greater efficiency.

Summary The spread of the Covid-19 epidemic is all the more rapid because it is difficult to detect the carriers of the virus. During the incubation period, and even longer in the absence of strong symptoms, they are unaware that they are spreading the disease. To limit the number of victims of the epidemic, the strategy adopted by most affected countries is therefore social distancing or even confinement, a strategy that can only be limited in time, given its economic, social and human cost. Today, the most feasible way out of the impasse seems to require generalized screening of the population. This screening would make it possible to isolate people who are carriers of the virus, and to authorize the others to leave the confinement. However, the production capacity of PCR (Polymerase Chain Reaction) tests is limited. Although they are increasing, they do not allow for sufficiently systematic and frequent screening to allow the lifting of heavy sanitary measures. The usefulness of each test can be multiplied, however, by applying it to the mixture of samples from several individuals. This technique has already been proven in another context and has been the subject of initial successful experiments on coronavirus. We show how the test method must be calibrated to maximize the utility of each available test.