The challenges of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) testing in low-middle income countries and possible cost-effective measures in resource-limited settings

Table 1 Comparison between the total number of tests (in million) performed and the total population (in million) in high-income countries and LMICs

Continent	Countries	Income	Total Tests Performed (million)	Total Population (million)	Percentage of Tests performed (%)
North America	USA	High	639,832,856	333,416,037	192¹
Oceania	Australia	High	37,832,547	25,854,460	146¹
Europe	Switzerland	High	10,796,404	8,733,303	124¹
North America	Canada	High	43,215,201	38,153,447	113¹
Europe	Germany	High	73,348,901	84,117,156	75
Asia	Vietnam	Middle	42,517,091	98,427,082	43
Africa	South Africa	Middle	17,649,727	60,237,549	29
South America	Brazil	Middle	57,282,520	214,437,809	27
South America	Venezuela	Middle	3,359,014	28,335,663	12
Asia	Bangladesh	Low	9,704,722	166,728,314	6
Africa	Uganda	Low	1,680,863	47,529,564	4
Africa	Nigeria	Low	2,997,060	212,473,029	1

Data were retrieved from the Worldometer Covid 19 on 30 September 2021 [10]. % Tests performed = (Total Tests/Total Population) * 100). The data on various types of income for each country was obtained from the World Bank online site [44]. ⁽¹⁾ Excessive SARS-CoV-2 testing is indicated by percentage values above 100 (SARS-CoV-2 tests performed more than the actual population)

ISSN: 1744-8603