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Gillam TB, Cole J, Gharbi K, Angiolini E, Barker T, Bickerton P, Brabbs T, Chin J, Coen E, Cossey S, Davey R, Davidson R, Durrant A, Edwards D, Hall N, Henderson S, Hitchcock M, Irish N, Lipscombe J, Jones G, Parr G, Rushworth S, Shearer N, Smith R, Steel N. Norwich COVID-19 testing initiative pilot: evaluating the feasibility of asymptomatic testing on a university campus. J Public Health (Oxf) 2021; 43:82-88. [PMID: 33124664 PMCID: PMC7665602 DOI: 10.1093/pubmed/fdaa194] [Citation(s) in RCA: 26] [Impact Index Per Article: 8.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/01/2020] [Revised: 10/01/2020] [Accepted: 10/07/2020] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
Background There is a high prevalence of COVID-19 in university-age students, who are returning to campuses. There is little evidence regarding the feasibility of universal, asymptomatic testing to help control outbreaks in this population. This study aimed to pilot mass COVID-19 testing on a university research park, to assess the feasibility and acceptability of scaling up testing to all staff and students. Methods This was a cross-sectional feasibility study on a university research park in the East of England. All staff and students (5625) were eligible to participate. All participants were offered four PCR swabs, which they self-administered over two weeks. Outcome measures included uptake, drop-out rate, positivity rates, participant acceptability measures, laboratory processing measures, data collection and management measures. Results 798 (76%) of 1053 who registered provided at least one swab; 687 (86%) provided all four; 792 (99%) of 798 who submitted at least one swab had all negative results and 6 participants had one inconclusive result. There were no positive results. 458 (57%) of 798 participants responded to a post-testing survey, demonstrating a mean acceptability score of 4.51/5, with five being the most positive. Conclusions Repeated self-testing for COVID-19 using PCR is feasible and acceptable to a university population.
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Affiliation(s)
- T Berger Gillam
- Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, University of East Anglia, Norwich NR4 7TJ, UK
| | - J Cole
- Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, University of East Anglia, Norwich NR4 7TJ, UK
| | - K Gharbi
- Genomics Pipelines, Earlham Institute, Norwich, NR4 7UZ, UK
| | - E Angiolini
- Scientific Training and Education, Earlham Institute, Norwich NR4 7UZ, UK
| | - T Barker
- Genomics Pipelines, Earlham Institute, Norwich, NR4 7UZ, UK
| | - P Bickerton
- Communications, Earlham Institute, Norwich NR4 7UZ, UK
| | - T Brabbs
- Genomics Pipelines, Earlham Institute, Norwich, NR4 7UZ, UK
| | - J Chin
- School of Computing Sciences, University of East Anglia, Norwich NR4 7TJ, UK
| | - E Coen
- John Innes Centre, Norwich NR4 7UH, UK
| | - S Cossey
- Earlham Institute, Norwich NR4 7UZ, UK
| | - R Davey
- Earlham Institute, Norwich NR4 7UZ, UK
| | - R Davidson
- Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, University of East Anglia, Norwich NR4 7TJ, UK
| | - A Durrant
- Genomics Pipelines, Earlham Institute, Norwich, NR4 7UZ, UK
| | - D Edwards
- Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, University of East Anglia, Norwich NR4 7TJ, UK
| | - N Hall
- Earlham Institute, Norwich NR4 7UZ, UK.,UEA Biosciences, University of East Anglia, Norwich NR4 7TJ, UK
| | - S Henderson
- Genomics Pipelines, Earlham Institute, Norwich, NR4 7UZ, UK
| | - M Hitchcock
- UEA Health and Social Care Partners, University of East Anglia, Norwich Research Park, Norwich NR4 7TJ, UK
| | - N Irish
- Genomics Pipelines, Earlham Institute, Norwich, NR4 7UZ, UK
| | - J Lipscombe
- Genomics Pipelines, Earlham Institute, Norwich, NR4 7UZ, UK
| | - G Jones
- Communications, Earlham Institute, Norwich NR4 7UZ, UK
| | - G Parr
- School of Computing Sciences, University of East Anglia, Norwich NR4 7TJ, UK
| | - S Rushworth
- Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, University of East Anglia, Norwich NR4 7TJ, UK
| | - N Shearer
- Genomics Pipelines, Earlham Institute, Norwich, NR4 7UZ, UK
| | - R Smith
- Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, University of East Anglia, Norwich NR4 7TJ, UK
| | - N Steel
- Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, University of East Anglia, Norwich NR4 7TJ, UK
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