Testing for active SARS-CoV-2 infections is key to controlling the spread of the virus and
preventing severe disease. A central public health challenge is defining test allocation
strategies in the presence of limited resources. Inthis paper, we provide a mathematical
framework for defining anoptimal strategy for allocating viral tests. The framework accounts
for imperfect test results, selective testing in certain high-risk patient populations, practical
constraints in terms of budget and/or total number of available tests, and the purpose of …

Timely diagnostic testing for active SARS‐CoV‐2 viral infections is key to controlling the
spread of the virus and preventing severe disease. A central public health challenge is
defining test allocation strategies with limited resources. In this paper, we provide a
mathematical framework for defining an optimal strategy for allocating viral diagnostic tests.
The framework accounts for imperfect test results, selective testing in certain high‐risk
patient populations, practical constraints in terms of budget and/or total number of available …