Read on Twitter
Much has been said about the success of @broadinstitute& #39;s genomics lab, which provides testing for 108 colleges in the Northeast. When we use @nytimes data to compare 88 of the 108 schools vs. 1400+ in the country, we see significantly lower case counts in schools that use Broad.
The map above displays Covid-19 cases per 1,000 students (to account for population differences) at 88 of the 108 schools that have contracted Broad for testing (all that are on this list). Many schools& #39; case counts have been in the single digits.
https://www.broadinstitute.org/news/broad-institute-provides-covid-19-screening-students-faculty-and-staff-more-100-colleges-and">https://www.broadinstitute.org/news/broa...
https://www.broadinstitute.org/news/broad-institute-provides-covid-19-screening-students-faculty-and-staff-more-100-colleges-and">https://www.broadinstitute.org/news/broa...
The results are wildly impressive — colleges that have contracted Broad for testing have an average of 4 cases per 1,000 students, compared to an average of 14.1 cases per 1,000 students of the other 1300+ schools in the @nytimes dataset. https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2020/us/covid-college-cases-tracker.html">https://www.nytimes.com/interacti...
Are there other factors that contribute to these schools& #39; successes? Of course — many are in rural areas in the Northeast with low community transmission and have high levels of compliance with health precautions. In the coming weeks I& #39;ll be examining these confounding variables.
It& #39;s also worth noting that there are many other testing providers colleges across the country use — Broad is just a significant example as they conduct about 7% of the nation& #39;s total Covid-19 tests each day. Other colleges have in-house labs/facilities, which are beneficial.
Here& #39;s a great piece on @broadinstitute& #39;s operations and how they converted to process tens of thousands of tests each day. https://www.wbur.org/commonhealth/2020/10/02/broad-covid-testing-cambridge-school-reopenings">https://www.wbur.org/commonhea...
And here& #39;s an excellent piece from @melissakorn on Broad& #39;s successes in conducting high frequency testing at Northeast colleges. https://www.wsj.com/articles/how-a-pioneering-covid-testing-lab-helped-keep-northeast-colleges-open-11602849600">https://www.wsj.com/articles/...
In addition to testing, there& #39;s the issue of logistics. Broad& #39;s facility in Boston, with a network of couriers, allows colleges to drive tests/have them driven for same-day delivery. Tests are with an average 14-hour turnaround time. Here& #39;s a map of the 88 of the schools.
Why is this all successful? Experts like @ADPaltiel, @RWalensky, @gregggonsalves, @GYamey, @CT_Bergstrom, @lpachter, @sinabooeshaghi, @faythtan, @DrZackaryBerger and @jhuber (our college testing czars) have advocated for frequent testing with fast turnaround times.
Testing is obviously only one piece of the puzzle, but a huge one. Now let& #39;s go back to this map. Imagine a hub-and-spoke model for colleges around the country — essentially having multiple Broad-type labs — where colleges can easily send tests on a regular basis.
As colleges look towards planning for the spring, we must continue to emphasize the importance of testing as a key to success. I hope this short thread shows the benefits of conducting frequent testing with a robust logistical operation. Thanks @broadinstitute for their work!
