For Quick Coronavirus Testing, Israel Turns to a Clever Algorithm

BEERSHEBA, Israel — A team of three Israeli scientists has pioneered a coronavirus testing procedure that they say is faster and more efficient than any now in use, testing samples in pools of as many as 48 people at once.

The Israeli government plans to roll out the new method in 12 labs across the country by October, anticipating that another wave of coronavirus infections could coincide with influenza season with potentially calamitous results. ...

Moran Szwarcwort Cohen, who runs the virology lab at Rambam Health Care Campus in Haifa, said the new pooled-testing method, which was formally approved for clinical use by the Israeli health ministry on Tuesday, could allow schools, college campuses, businesses and airlines to clear whole groups of people far faster than has been possible until now.

“It’s a huge game-changer,” said Dr. Cohen, who was not involved in the new research.

Pooled testing for the coronavirus has received much attention in the United States as inundated labs struggle to cope with backlogs and shortages of chemicals, pipette tips and other supplies.

Most pooling efforts elsewhere are relying on a simplistic approach developed to test World War II draftees for syphilis. That so-called Dorfman method, named for the economist who dreamed it up, calls for testing pools of samples from several people at once. If the pool tests negative, then all individuals are considered negative. If the pool tests positive, then additional samples from each individual must be retested to see which are positive.

The Israeli method, by contrast, is designed to only require one round of testing — a crucial savings in time, laboratory work flow and supplies.