By Dr. Tami Gouveia and John Regan
Massachusetts continues to face questions and uncertainties about the course of the COVID-19 pandemic and its unrelenting impacts on communities throughout the Commonwealth.
With COVID-19 cases rising, temperatures falling, and new variants emerging, we must embrace the tools that will get us back to something resembling normalcy. Parents need tools to safely send their kids to school or daycare. Businesses need support for the investments they have made in critical safety measures to keep their doors open while protecting employees and patrons. And the burden of COVID-19 patients on our first responders, health care workers, and the health care system can be alleviated by a public that is informed and able to take steps to reduce the spread of COVID-19.
What can we do now to keep our economy open and communities safe? The answer lies in rapid antigen testing. Rapid tests are a quick, reliable, and cost-effective way to identify individuals who are asymptomatically infected with COVID-19. The tests can be especially useful in identifying breakthrough cases in fully vaccinated individuals.
