Norwich COVID-19 testing initiative pilot: evaluating the feasibility of asymptomatic testing on a university campus

Tara Berger Gillam; Jennifer Cole; Karim Gharbi; Emily Angiolini; Tom Barker; Peter Bickerton; Thomas Brabbs; Jeannette Chin; Enrico Coen; Sarah Cossey; Robert P. Davey; Rosemary Davidson; Alex Durrant; Dylan Edwards; Neil Hall; Suzanne Henderson; Mark Hitchcock; Naomi Irish; James Lipscombe; Greg Jones; Gerard Parr; Stuart Rushworth; Neil Shearer; Russell Smith; Nicholas Steel

doi:10.1093/pubmed/fdaa194

Norwich COVID-19 testing initiative pilot: evaluating the feasibility of asymptomatic testing on a university campus

Tara Berger Gillam, Jennifer Cole, Karim Gharbi, Emily Angiolini, Tom Barker, Peter Bickerton, Thomas Brabbs, Jeannette Chin, Enrico Coen, Sarah Cossey, Robert P. Davey, Rosemary Davidson, Alex Durrant, Dylan Edwards, Neil Hall, Suzanne Henderson, Mark Hitchcock, Naomi Irish, James Lipscombe, Greg JonesGerard Parr, Stuart Rushworth, Neil Shearer, Russell Smith, Nicholas Steel

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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 (5,625) were eligible to participate. All participants were offered 4 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. 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 5 being the most positive.

Conclusions: Repeated self-testing for COVID-19 using PCR is feasible and acceptable to a university population.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	82-88
Number of pages	7
Journal	Journal of Public Health
Volume	43
Issue number	1
Early online date	30 Oct 2020
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1093/pubmed/fdaa194
Publication status	Published - Mar 2021

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10.1093/pubmed/fdaa194Licence: Unspecified

2020.09.22.20199455v2.fullAccepted author manuscript, 221 KBLicence: CC BY-NC-ND

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Berger Gillam, T., Cole, J., Gharbi, K., Angiolini, E., Barker, T., Bickerton, P., Brabbs, T., Chin, J., Coen, E., Cossey, S., Davey, R. P., Davidson, R., Durrant, A., Edwards, D., Hall, N., Henderson, S., Hitchcock, M., Irish, N., Lipscombe, J., ... Steel, N. (2021). Norwich COVID-19 testing initiative pilot: evaluating the feasibility of asymptomatic testing on a university campus. Journal of Public Health, 43(1), 82-88. https://doi.org/10.1093/pubmed/fdaa194

@article{ba18b292aa1d4cae8375d4e6bc23c1cf,

title = "Norwich COVID-19 testing initiative pilot: evaluating the feasibility of asymptomatic testing on a university campus",

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 (5,625) were eligible to participate. All participants were offered 4 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. 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 5 being the most positive. Conclusions: Repeated self-testing for COVID-19 using PCR is feasible and acceptable to a university population.",

author = "{Berger Gillam}, Tara and Jennifer Cole and Karim Gharbi and Emily Angiolini and Tom Barker and Peter Bickerton and Thomas Brabbs and Jeannette Chin and Enrico Coen and Sarah Cossey and Davey, {Robert P.} and Rosemary Davidson and Alex Durrant and Dylan Edwards and Neil Hall and Suzanne Henderson and Mark Hitchcock and Naomi Irish and James Lipscombe and Greg Jones and Gerard Parr and Stuart Rushworth and Neil Shearer and Russell Smith and Nicholas Steel",

note = "Funding Information: Project funding was provided by the UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC) Core Capability Grant BBS/E/T/000PR9816, Quadram Institute, John Innes Centre, and the University of East Anglia, generously supported by local charities and philanthropists. The CyVerse UK cloud is funded by the BBSRC National Capability award to EI BBS/E/T/000PR9814.",

year = "2021",

month = mar,

doi = "10.1093/pubmed/fdaa194",

language = "English",

volume = "43",

pages = "82--88",

journal = "Journal of Public Health",

issn = "1741-3842",

publisher = "Oxford University Press",

number = "1",

}

Berger Gillam, T, Cole, J, Gharbi, K, Angiolini, E, Barker, T, Bickerton, P, Brabbs, T, Chin, J, Coen, E, Cossey, S, Davey, RP, 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 2021, 'Norwich COVID-19 testing initiative pilot: evaluating the feasibility of asymptomatic testing on a university campus', Journal of Public Health, vol. 43, no. 1, pp. 82-88. https://doi.org/10.1093/pubmed/fdaa194

TY - JOUR

T1 - Norwich COVID-19 testing initiative pilot: evaluating the feasibility of asymptomatic testing on a university campus

AU - Berger Gillam, Tara

AU - Cole, Jennifer

AU - Gharbi, Karim

AU - Angiolini, Emily

AU - Barker, Tom

AU - Bickerton, Peter

AU - Brabbs, Thomas

AU - Chin, Jeannette

AU - Coen, Enrico

AU - Cossey, Sarah

AU - Davey, Robert P.

AU - Davidson, Rosemary

AU - Durrant, Alex

AU - Edwards, Dylan

AU - Hall, Neil

AU - Henderson, Suzanne

AU - Hitchcock, Mark

AU - Irish, Naomi

AU - Lipscombe, James

AU - Jones, Greg

AU - Parr, Gerard

AU - Rushworth, Stuart

AU - Shearer, Neil

AU - Smith, Russell

AU - Steel, Nicholas

N1 - Funding Information: Project funding was provided by the UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC) Core Capability Grant BBS/E/T/000PR9816, Quadram Institute, John Innes Centre, and the University of East Anglia, generously supported by local charities and philanthropists. The CyVerse UK cloud is funded by the BBSRC National Capability award to EI BBS/E/T/000PR9814.

PY - 2021/3

Y1 - 2021/3

N2 - 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 (5,625) were eligible to participate. All participants were offered 4 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. 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 5 being the most positive. Conclusions: Repeated self-testing for COVID-19 using PCR is feasible and acceptable to a university population.

AB - 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 (5,625) were eligible to participate. All participants were offered 4 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. 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 5 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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U2 - 10.1093/pubmed/fdaa194

DO - 10.1093/pubmed/fdaa194

M3 - Article

VL - 43

SP - 82

EP - 88

JO - Journal of Public Health

JF - Journal of Public Health

SN - 1741-3842

IS - 1

ER -

Norwich COVID-19 testing initiative pilot: evaluating the feasibility of asymptomatic testing on a university campus

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Dylan Edwards

Gerard Parr

Stuart Rushworth

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