Opinion: Early COVID-19 testing in Peru and its implications on transmission

As of September 8, 2021, severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) has infected more than 222 million and killed more than 4.3 million people. Peru is among the countries most affected by COVID-19, with more than 2.1 million cases and a fatality rate of 9.2 %. To limit SARS-CoV-2 spread into the country, Peru closed its borders to international travel in March 2020, and established strict lockdowns, while at the public health front, interventions including laboratory testing, contact tracing and isolation of suspected and/or infected individuals were largely inaccessible in communities with active transmission. Anecdotal reports suggest that a weak healthcare system and political instability contributed to the poor management of COVID-19 in the country. Here, we provide an opinion focused on the country’s early testing response to the pandemic and discuss how it could have effectively leveraged diagnostic tools to control the spread of SARS-CoV-2.