Community-Aware Semi-Quantitative Group Testing

Abstract

Driven by the on-going pandemic, genetic variants of group testing are proposed to utilize the special properties of the qPCR (quantitative polymerase chain reaction) testing, a popular method to diagnose the SARS-CoV-2 infection. The qPCR procedure involves amplifying some DNA fragments until their density is detectable. And the required number of cycles of amplification is known as the CT (cycle threshold) value. In this talk, we will discuss several properties of the CT value that could help reduce the cost and improve the reliability of group testing. Property 1: The amplification process can be terminated early when the virus is detected and the CT value is read-off; this saves time. Property 2: A CT value provides more information than a Yes--No value; i.e., it is quantitative and helps us infer the density of the virus in each individual. Property 3: Intimate family members have correlated CT values; travelers from heavily-infected countries have lower CT values. It is suggested that one considers the ``prior probabilities’’ when grouping the samples. We will then overview some off-the-shelf proposals for group testing for SARS-CoV-2.