Herd immunity: UC Irvine professor Andrew Noymer explains how it could contribute to slowing spread of coronavirus.
Bernadette Boden-Albala, the newly appointed dean of the future public health school at the University of California Irvine … notes that there has been an underutilization of the tests available, with some testing slots going unused. “Now, we need anyone who thinks they have coronavirus to go get tested, so they can know to isolate themselves.”
Bernadette Boden-Albala, UCI founding dean School of Population Health. Joined a task force organized by Chancellor Howard Gillman to … track and analyze the looming spread of COVID-19 in Orange County. Recently launched large-scale, population-based study that will generate a more accurate estimate of the true prevalence of the pandemic in OC. … “Testing that is scientifically and statistically sound is absolutely critical to getting people all over Orange County back to work and back to their lives in a safe way,” said Boden-Albala
“You have 50 different governors doing 50 different things,” said Andrew Noymer, an associate professor of public health at the University of California, Irvine. “There will be states that open too soon or states that are too conservative. It is hard to thread the needle.”
Andrew Noymer, an associate public health professor at the University of California, Irvine who has emerged as a leading voice on government response to the virus, suggests that may be the wrong track. On paper, a Bluetooth-based app that notifies a user they’ve been near someone who tested positive could help stem an outbreak, Noymer said. But he’s skeptical. It’s unclear how sensitive or accurate the tracking would be and how people without access to smartphones would be able to benefit from it. “I do think the privacy, the encroachment, concerns are nothing to be dismissed out of hand,” he added.
"Testing that is scientifically and statistically sound is absolutely critical to getting people all over Orange County back to work and back to their lives in a safe way,” said Bernadette Boden-Albala, director of UCI’s Program in Public Health and founding dean of the campus’s proposed School of Population Health. “What we’ve seen so far is that low-income and minority communities are experiencing the most severe symptoms and death rates. It’s tragic, and we have to know why this is happening and what we can do to prevent it. By partnering across Orange County, from Irvine and Newport Beach to Santa Ana and Anaheim, we can do this."
Even with a test that correctly identifies antibodies in coronavirus-positive people more than 90% of the time, and no antibodies in coronavirus-negative people just as often, if you have a population where the actual prevalence of the disease is very low, the test can produce false results for half of those who take it, according to Dr. Andrew Noymer, a public health associate professor at the University of California Irvine. “Even when you log on to your healthcare portal, and it says, ‘Congratulations, you are positive for Covid antibodies,’ meaning you ostensibly have some immunity, it’s not like something you can take to the bank,” Noymer said in an interview.
