COVID-19
Diagnostics & testing

Effective diagnostics are the eyes and ears of a global pandemic response

Tests are critical to help limit the spread of disease.
There is no time to waste in the fight against COVID-19.

The ACT-Accelerator

FIND is co-leading the Diagnostics Pillar of the Access to COVID-19 Tools (ACT) Accelerator, a ground-breaking collaboration to reduce death and severe disease through the accelerated development, equitable allocation, and scaled up delivery of COVID-19 tests, treatments, and vaccines, thereby protecting health systems and restoring societies and economies.

Learn more about the act-accelerator

Advocacy

COVID-19 has exposed how sustained underinvestment in testing has a negative impact on health, societies and economies. Managing the pandemic and building back better must put testing at the centre.

Investment

US$9 billion is needed to ensure equitable access to new and existing tests, including the procurement and distribution of at least 900 million molecular and antigen rapid tests.

Progress

Testing is the first line of defence against COVID-19. The ACT-Accelerator Diagnostics Pillar has established an ambitious agenda, aiming to achieve 10 key milestones across four workstreams by the end of 2020.

COVID-19 test directory & pipeline

We are tracking the current status of SARS-CoV-2 tests commercialized and in development.

For immunoassays and molecular tests for COVID-19, we have compiled a fully searchable directory that includes performance data (sensitivity and specificity).

More information

FIND evaluations of SARS-CoV-2 assays

We are conducting independent evaluations of molecular tests and immunoassays, in collaboration with WHO and multiple partners worldwide, to assist in-country decision making.

evaluations & results

Antigen rapid test implementation

FIND resources to support implementation of antigen rapid tests in your country.

Online courses

Join our courses to get the latest recommendations on COVID-19 testing and up-to-date information on the performance of tests and how best to deploy them.

Current testing situation worldwide

Our interactive map builds a picture of how many people in the world are being tested by tracking the number of SARS-CoV-2 tests reported to have been performed in each country, and comparing it with the number that showed a positive result.

INTERACTIVE SARS-CoV-2 TEST-TRACKER

COVID-19 genomic surveillance

Genomic surveillance is being increasingly used for SARS-CoV-2 to track and monitor the spread of variants and inform public health action.

COVID-19 diagnostics resources

PHG Foundation/FIND

SARS-CoV-2 variants

11 Mar 2021

ACT-Accelerator

Developing a collaborative research agenda for SARS-CoV-2 antigen rapid diagnostic tests

21 Jan 2021

ACT-Accelerator

Framework for the governance of personal data for the Access to COVID-19 Tools Accelerator

1 Jan 2021

WHO & FIND

SARS-CoV-2 antigen-detecting rapid diagnostic tests: an implementation guide

18 Dec 2020

WHO & FIND

Antigen RDTs: training package

11 Nov 2020

WHO & FIND

Antigen RDTs: country implementation support

11 Nov 2020

Act-Accelerator

ACT-Accelerator Diagnostics Pillar: No one is safe until everyone is safe

30 Sep 2020

FIND

FAQs from test manufacturers

18 Sep 2020

WHO

Summary of WHO COVID AG RDT Guidance

14 Sep 2020

FIND

In-house test development for molecular detection of SARS-CoV-2 (En, Fr, Por)

4 Sep 2020

FIND

Rapid Diagnostic Tests for Covid-19

18 May 2020

European Commission

COVID-19 in-vitro diagnostic medical devices

1 May 2020

WHO

Access to COVID-19 Tools (ACT) Accelerator

24 Apr 2020

FIND

Diagnostics for Covid-19 (Eng & Fr)

24 Mar 2020

Halteres

SARS-CoV-2 diagnostic use cases

20 Mar 2020

Diagnostics implementation simulator

Our simulator, developed in partnership with the EPFL Blue Brain Project and Ateneo de Manila University, uses modelling data to simulate scenarios and estimate the potential impact of deploying different testing strategies for COVID-19.

DX Implementation simulator

Media & Press

WHO

ACT-Accelerator one year on

23 Apr 2021

The Telegraph

One year into the Covid-19 pandemic, testing is as vital as ever

23 Apr 2021

Inquirer.net

Fresh warning from COVID-19 solutions group, one year on

23 Apr 2021

Le Monde

Vaccins, traitements, tests : l’écart entre pays riches et pays pauvres risque de prolonger la pandémie de Covid-19

23 Apr 2021

WHO

COVAX reaches over 100 economies, 42 days after first international delivery

8 Apr 2021

The Global Fund

Global Fund thanks the United States for US$3.5 billion emergency investment to fight COVID-19

11 Mar 2021

Marketplace

$5 COVID test, DIY-style, may be on the way

25 Feb 2021

Wall Street Journal

Can mass self-testing for Covid-19 keep schools safe?

22 Feb 2021

Regjeringen.no

Why the rich world cannot afford to leave the poor behind on vaccines

16 Feb 2021

BioWorld

COVID-19 test makers are adapting for variants

11 Feb 2021

Nature

Rapid coronavirus tests: a guide for the perplexed

9 Feb 2021

The Lancet

SARS-CoV-2 testing for public health use: core principles and considerations for defined use settings

28 Jan 2021

The Telegraph

Millions of low-cost diagnostic tests to be made available to poorest nations

25 Jan 2021

World Economic Forum

Aruba first government to join the CommonTrust Network

17 Dec 2020

The Telegraph

Behind the Covid-19 vaccine is a hidden arsenal of diagnostic tests

3 Nov 2020

Forbes

Time to tap Covid-19 innovations & systems to reimagine TB care

22 Oct 2020

The Guardian

Covid-19 tests that give results in minutes to be rolled out across world

28 Sep 2020

MIMS Hepatology

Decentralized HCV testing is key to finding the missing millions

2 Sep 2020

IEEE Spectrum

Rapid, affordable, high quality COVID tests still scant

20 Aug 2020

POLITICO

The breakthrough that could halt the pandemic, even before a vaccine

14 Aug 2020

PLOS Negl Trop Dis

Diagnosis of neglected tropical diseases during and after the COVID-19 pandemic

14 Aug 2020

c&en

Rapid COVID-19 testing breaks free from the lab

10 Aug 2020

BMJ Glob Health Blog

Saving lives from COVID-19 is everyone’s responsibility

7 Aug 2020

BMJ Global Health

Where is the money for COVID-19 diagnostics?

4 Aug 2020

NY Times

‘The biggest monster’ is spreading. And it’s not the coronavirus.

3 Aug 2020

The Telegraph

Jeremy Hunt's clash with Whitty puts testing regime under the spotlight

26 Jul 2020

Devex

Opinion: To enable UHC, close COVID-19 testing and gender gaps

16 Jul 2020

ETPrime

How to cap the virus in the current situation: cast the testing net wider and act fast on the data

2 Jul 2020

Financial Times

Three questions (Catharina Boehme)

1 Jul 2020

360Dx

WHO seeks $6B diagnostics support for unrelenting COVID-19 pandemic

30 Jun 2020

The Telegraph

Dr Tom Frieden: 'Blaming CDC for US Covid failures is like blaming someone encased in concrete for failing to swim'

29 Jun 2020

The Good Sight

Care in the time of COVID-19

29 Jun 2020

Global Citizen

'Global Goal: Unite for Our Future,’ Global Citizen and the European Commission mobilize $1.5 billion in cash grants, and $5.4 billion in loans and guarantees—for a total of $6.9 billion pledged—to combat the disproportionate impact of Covid-19 on vulnerable and disadvantaged communities

27 Jun 2020

c&en

Developing countries face diagnostic challenges as the COVID-19 pandemic surges

26 Jun 2020

Cochrane Library

Antibody tests for identification of current and past infection with SARS‐CoV‐2

25 Jun 2020

Forbes

Women leaders unite to push for testing to exit COVID-19

24 Jun 2020

Research Prof. News

UK R&D funding goes global

10 Jun 2020

New York Intelligencer

How Reliable Are COVID-19 Tests?

10 Jun 2020

Global Citizen

Who are the key players in making COVID-19 tests, treatments, and vaccines available to everyone?

8 Jun 2020

Financial Times

Testing funds shortfall imperils Covid-19 fight, health groups warn

8 Jun 2020

Times of India Blogs

India needs to ensure that testing is at the heart of its response to Covid-19

4 Jun 2020

360Dx

Beset by COVID-19 pandemic, Europe searches for right test mix for diagnosis, surveillance

3 Jun 2020

Ann Intern Med

Diagnostic testing for severe acute respiratory syndrome–related Coronavirus-2: A narrative review

2 Jun 2020

The Hindu

Is there still a case for testing contacts?

30 May 2020

Global Citizen

'Global goal: unite for our future': we're calling on the world to make sure everyone can beat COVID-19

28 May 2020

Le Temps

La grande foire aux tests sérologiques

25 May 2020

Maverick Citizen

Global TB community must unite – 1.4 million lives are at stake

21 May 2020

The Pioneer

Dockyard : All about COVID-19 tests

19 May 2020

CNBC YouTube

How COVID-19 testing works

15 May 2020

The New Yorker

What African nations are teaching the West about fighting the coronavirus

15 May 2020

The Scientist

Why the accuracy of SARS-CoV-2 antibody tests vary so much

5 May 2020

BusinessLine

First batch of Covid-19 test kits funded by Pepsico arrive at sites across India

5 May 2020

Business Insider India

PepsiCo India-funded COVID-19 testing kits start reaching laboratories

5 May 2020

The Guardian

Demand for coronavirus tests raises concerns over HIV and malaria

1 May 2020

The Economist

Testing times – Letters to the Editor

1 May 2020

Hindustan Times

Senegal working on $1 testing kit for Covid-19, say reports as number of cases in Africa cross 22,000

29 Apr 2020

Maverick Citizen

We must never forget TB is still out there

27 Apr 2020

FactCheck.org

Q&A on COVID-19 antibody tests

27 Apr 2020

Mologic

Mologic launches manufacturing facility to boost access to COVID-19 rapid diagnostic tests

24 Apr 2020

Cochrane Library

Diagnosis of SARS‐CoV‐2 infection and COVID‐19: accuracy of signs and symptoms; molecular, antigen, and antibody tests; and routine laboratory markers

24 Apr 2020

Lancet Glob Health

Diagnosing malaria and other febrile illnesses during the COVID-19 pandemic

24 Apr 2020

Research Prof. News

UK ‘key’ funder of Covid-19 tests in developing nations

23 Apr 2020

JAMA Network

Ramping up diagnostics in resource-poor countries

21 Apr 2020

IEEE Spectrum

Testing the tests: Which COVID-19 tests are most accurate?

15 Apr 2020

Lancet Glob Health

COVID-19 and risks to the supply and quality of tests, drugs, and vaccines

9 Apr 2020

The New York Times

In scramble for coronavirus supplies, rich countries push poor aside

9 Apr 2020

DNYUZ

South Korea’s factories stretched to limit churning out virus test

6 Apr 2020

NJ.com

This is no time for ‘America First.’ China’s coronavirus tests are good enough for the U.S.

6 Apr 2020

PRESS RELEASE

PepsiCo India commits over 5 million meals and 25,000 COVID-19 testing kits

6 Apr 2020

News Medical Life Sciences

GlobalData: Rapid POC tests to accelerate testing capacity for diagnosing COVID-19

3 Apr 2020

IEEE Spectrum

How do coronavirus tests work?

3 Apr 2020

Financial Times

What coronavirus tests does the world need to track the pandemic? | Free to read

1 Apr 2020

The Guardian

'Absolutely wrong': how UK's coronavirus test strategy unravelled

1 Apr 2020

Times of India

New testing kits could turn tide against coronavirus-if they work

1 Apr 2020

The Guardian

Just 2,000 key NHS staff have been tested, UK government admits

1 Apr 2020

El Financiero

Esto es lo que sabemos de las pruebas rápidas para detectar COVID-19

1 Apr 2020

devex

A look at COVID-19 testing and why country-wide is impossible right now

31 Mar 2020

Bloomberg

New Tests Could Turn Tide Against Coronavirus—If They Work

31 Mar 2020

4 News

25,000 tests a day in UK ‘not going to be adequate’ – FIND’s Dr Rangarajan Sampath

31 Mar 2020

National Geographic

Why the U.S. coronavirus testing failures were inevitable

30 Mar 2020

Le Figaro

Catharina Boehme: «Il y a une crise évidente dans la disponibilité des tests du coronavirus»

29 Mar 2020

Forbes

AIDS, TB and malaria: Coronavirus threatens the endgame

29 Mar 2020

The Telegraph

Many will say globalisation got us into this mess. In reality, it is what will get us out of it

28 Mar 2020

360Dx

UK Government invests $28M in FIND to support SARS-CoV-2 test development

27 Mar 2020

FactCheck.org

Trump’s faulty testing claims

26 Mar 2020

The Wall Street Journal

U.K. trials coronavirus-immunity tests for home use

25 Mar 2020

genomeweb

Q&A: FIND's Cassandra Kelly-Cirino discusses COVID-19 diagnostics pipelines

24 Mar 2020

Heidi News

Des tests sérologiques déployés sous peu pour voir l'étendue réelle du Covid-19 en Suisse

24 Mar 2020

Nature Biotechnology

Fast, portable tests come online to curb coronavirus pandemic

23 Mar 2020

FactCheck.org

Biden, Trump wrong about WHO coronavirus tests

20 Mar 2020

Forbes

COVID-19 coronavirus and tuberculosis: We need a damage control plan

17 Mar 2020

Forbes

Let’s worry about diagnostic capacity, not just during outbreaks

19 Feb 2020

M Amplify

On stigma and outbreak response

11 Mar 2020

Contact us

Technical enquiries

Contact our emerging threats team

Media enquiries

Contact our communication team

COVID-19 Diagnostics & testing

Effective diagnostics are the eyes and ears of a global pandemic response

The ACT-Accelerator

Advocacy

Investment

Progress

COVID-19 test directory & pipeline

FIND evaluations of SARS-CoV-2 assays

Antigen rapid test implementation

Online courses

Current testing situation worldwide

COVID-19 genomic surveillance

COVID-19 diagnostics resources

Diagnostics implementation simulator

Media & Press

Contact us

COVID-19
Diagnostics & testing