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The Impact of Mass Antigen Testing for COVID-19 on the Prevalence of the Disease

Author

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  • Kahanec, Martin

    (Central European University)

  • Lafférs, Lukáš

    (Matej Bel University)

  • Schmidpeter, Bernhard

    (Vienna University of Economics and Business)

Abstract

More than 100 million people have been infected and 2.5 million people have died of COVID-19 globally as of February 2021. Mass antigen testing could help to mitigate the pandemic and allow the economy to re-open. We investigate the effects of mass antigen testing on the pandemic, using data from a uniquely designed nation-wide testing implemented in Slovakia in Autumn 2020. After the first round, only districts above an ex-ante unknown prevalence threshold were re-tested. Comparing districts above and below the threshold using a quasi-experimental design, we find that repeated mass antigen testing reduced infections by about 25-30% and decreased R0 by 0.3 two weeks after the re-testing; the effects on incidence peaked around that time and all effects gradually dissipated afterward. These results suggest that mass testing could be an effective tool in curbing the spread of COVID-19, but for lasting effects regular retesting would be necessary.

Suggested Citation

  • Kahanec, Martin & Lafférs, Lukáš & Schmidpeter, Bernhard, 2021. "The Impact of Mass Antigen Testing for COVID-19 on the Prevalence of the Disease," IZA Discussion Papers 14228, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    • Handle: RePEc:iza:izadps:dp14228
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    1. Brodeur, Abel & Clark, Andrew E. & Fleche, Sarah & Powdthavee, Nattavudh, 2021. "COVID-19, lockdowns and well-being: Evidence from Google Trends," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 193(C).
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    4. Arenas-Arroyo, Esther & Fernandez-Kranz, Daniel & Nollenberger, Natalia, 2021. "Intimate partner violence under forced cohabitation and economic stress: Evidence from the COVID-19 pandemic," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 194(C).
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    Cited by:

    1. Majerčák Jozef & Vakulenko Sergej Petrovich, 2023. "The Impact of COVID-19 Pandemic on Population Mobility in the Czech Republic and Slovakia," LOGI – Scientific Journal on Transport and Logistics, Sciendo, vol. 14(1), pages 158-168, January.
    2. David Turner & Balázs Égert & Yvan Guillemette & Jarmila Botev, 2021. "The tortoise and the hare: The race between vaccine rollout and new COVID variants," OECD Economics Department Working Papers 1672, OECD Publishing.
    3. Adamecz-Völgyi, Anna & Szabó-Morvai, Ágnes, 2021. "Confidence in public institutions is critical in containing the COVID-19 pandemic," GLO Discussion Paper Series 861, Global Labor Organization (GLO).
    4. Guilhem Cassan & Marc Sangnier, 2022. "The impact of 2020 French municipal elections on the spread of COVID-19," Journal of Population Economics, Springer;European Society for Population Economics, vol. 35(3), pages 963-988, July.
    5. Jeon, Jeonghwan & Suvitha, Krishnan & Arshad, Noreen Izza & Kalaiselvan, Samayan & Narayanamoorthy, Samayan & Ferrara, Massimiliano & Ahmadian, Ali, 2023. "A probabilistic hesitant fuzzy MCDM approach to evaluate India’s intervention strategies against the COVID-19 pandemic," Socio-Economic Planning Sciences, Elsevier, vol. 89(C).
    6. Phi-Hung Nguyen & Jung-Fa Tsai & Thanh-Tuan Dang & Ming-Hua Lin & Hong-Anh Pham & Kim-Anh Nguyen, 2021. "A Hybrid Spherical Fuzzy MCDM Approach to Prioritize Governmental Intervention Strategies against the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Case Study from Vietnam," Mathematics, MDPI, vol. 9(20), pages 1-26, October.
    7. Anna Godøy & Maja Weemes Grøtting & Rannveig Kaldager Hart, 2022. "Reopening schools in a context of low COVID-19 contagion: consequences for teachers, students and their parents," Journal of Population Economics, Springer;European Society for Population Economics, vol. 35(3), pages 935-961, July.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    COVID-19; mass testing; antigen testing; non-pharmaceutical interventions; COVID-19 policies;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • D04 - Microeconomics - - General - - - Microeconomic Policy: Formulation; Implementation; Evaluation
    • I18 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Health - - - Government Policy; Regulation; Public Health
    • J22 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor - - - Time Allocation and Labor Supply

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