PROGRESS

Your national SARS-CoV-2 testing policy

Are you a public health professional and/or laboratory expert that has knowledge of the development of your country’s national SARS-CoV-2 testing strategy? Then you are kindly invited to participate in this European survey study organised by the European Union SHARP Joint Action (Strengthened International HeAlth Regulations and Preparedness in the EU).  

The aim is to understand the factors that contributed to the differences and similarities in SARS-CoV-2 testing strategies across Europe. For the purpose of this survey, the national testing strategy is defined broadly "as all decisions made, and actions taken, to test whether individual persons or animals have been infected with the SARS-CoV-2 virus during the COVID-19 pandemic". 

The focus of this survey will be on your own personal experiences and opinions. The opinions do not need to and need not reflect the institution you work for or have worked for. The outcome of the survey can be used in scientific publications or made public in another way, but always psuedoanonymised, if personal data is provided. This means that the answers you give cannot be traced back to you. The data will be kept for a maximum of 15 years and handled in accordance with the RIVM privacy statement and General Data Privacy Regulation (GDPR).

It will take you approximately 20 minutes to complete the survey. If you have any questions or comments, please free to contact sharp@rivm.nl.

Section 1: General questions

Section 2: Your national testing strategy's goals

Section 3: The actors involved in the development of your country's national SARS-CoV-2 testing policy
 
In this section you will be presented matrices within which you will be asked to fill in the actors involved in the development of your country's national SARS-CoV-2 testing strategy, while focusing on different aspects of the strategy. You will be asked to fill this in for 3 different time periods during the pandemic, as well as for the ideal situation. 
Please read the instructions carefully, as it will help you fill in the matrices efficiently. 

TABLE 1

Who was involved in the development of the testing strategy for the different target groups in the period between the 1st of January 2020 and the 31st of May 2020 (the first 6 months of the pandemic)?

- The rows show the target groups and the columns show the actors. Please tick the appropriate boxes. 
- Select 'not applicable' if there was no strategy for a specific target group.
- You may indicate multiple actors in the 'Other" option.  
Laboratory in clinical institution Private laboratory Animal health laboratory Commercial manufacturers of testing kits and materials Ministry of Health Ministry other than the Ministry of Health
National public health institute
 Regional health governance structure Public health officials National expert and/or advisory groups Healthcare professionals and/or management in hospitals Healthcare professionals and/or management in long term care Not applicable Other, namely
 

TABLE 2

You have stated that the same actors plus additional actors were involved in the period between the 1st of June 2020 and the 31st of December 2020 as during the first 6 months of the pandemic (Table 1).
Please select which actors were added in the period between the 1st of June 2020 and the 31st of December 2020 (the second 6 months of the pandemic).
Please only select the additional actors. 
Laboratory in clinical institution Private laboratory Animal health laboratory Commercial manufacturers of testing kits and materials Ministry of Health Ministry other than the Ministry of Health
National public health institute
 Regional health governance structure Public health officials National expert and/or advisory groups Healthcare professionals and/or management in hospitals Healthcare professionals and/or management in long term care Not applicable Other, namely
 

TABLE 2

You have stated that less and/or other actors were involved in the period between the 1st of June 2020 and the 31st of December 2020 as during the first 6 months of the pandemic (Table 1).
Please fill in the matrix and select which actors were involved in the development of the testing strategy for the different target groups in the period between the 1st of June 2020 and the 31st of December 2020 (the second 6 months of the pandemic). 
Please select the appropriate options for each row. 
Laboratory in clinical institution Private laboratory Animal health laboratory Commercial manufacturers of testing kits and materials Ministry of Health Ministry other than the Ministry of Health
National public health institute
 Regional health governance structure Public health officials National expert and/or advisory groups Healthcare professionals and/or management in hospitals Healthcare professionals and/or management in long term care Not applicable Other, namely
 
 

TABLE 3

You have stated that the same actors plus additional actors were involved in the period from the 1st of January 2021 onwards as during the first 6 months of the pandemic (Table 1).
Please select which actors were added in the period from the 1st of January 2021 onwards (1 year after the start of the pandemic). 
Please only select the additional actors. 
Laboratory in clinical institution Private laboratory Animal health laboratory Commercial manufacturers of testing kits and materials Ministry of Health Ministry other than the Ministry of Health
National public health institute
 Regional health governance structure Public health officials National expert and/or advisory groups Healthcare professionals and/or management in hospitals Healthcare professionals and/or management in long term care Not applicable Other, namely

TABLE 3

You have stated that the same actors plus additional actors were involved in the period from the 1st of January 2021 onwards as during the second 6 months of the pandemic (Table 2).
Please select which actors were added in the period from the 1st of January 2021 onwards (1 year after the start of the pandemic).  
Please only select the additional actors. 
Laboratory in clinical institution Private laboratory Animal health laboratory Commercial manufacturers of testing kits and materials Ministry of Health Ministry other than the Ministry of Health
National public health institute
 Regional health governance structure Public health officials National expert and/or advisory groups Healthcare professionals and/or management in hospitals Healthcare professionals and/or management in long term care Not applicable Other, namely

TABLE 3

You have stated that the same actors plus additional actors were involved in the period from the 1st of January 2021 onwards as during the first 6 months (Table 1) and second 6 months of the pandemic.
Please select which actors were added in the period from the 1st of January 2021 onwards (1 year after the start of the pandemic). 
Please only select the additional actors. 
Laboratory in clinical institution Private laboratory Animal health laboratory Commercial manufacturers of testing kits and materials Ministry of Health Ministry other than the Ministry of Health
National public health institute
 Regional health governance structure Public health officials National expert and/or advisory groups Healthcare professionals and/or management in hospitals Healthcare professionals and/or management in long term care Not applicable Other, namely

TABLE 3

You have stated that less and/or other actors were involved in the period from the 1st of January 2021 onwards as during the first 6 months (Table 1) and second 6 months of the pandemic (If applicable, table 2).
Please fill in the matrix and select which actors were involved in the development of the testing strategy for the different target groups in the period from the 1st of January 2021 onwards (1 year after the start of the pandemic).  
Please select the appropriate options for each row. 
Laboratory in clinical institution Private laboratory Animal health laboratory Commercial manufacturers of testing kits and materials Ministry of Health Ministry other than the Ministry of Health
National public health institute
 Regional health governance structure Public health officials National expert and/or advisory groups Healthcare professionals and/or management in hospitals Healthcare professionals and/or management in long term care Not applicable Other, namely
 
 

TABLE 4

You have stated that you believe more, less and/or other actors should have been involved in the development of the testing strategy at the very beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic. 
Please fill in the matrix and select which actors you believe should have been involved in the development of the testing strategy for the different target groups at the very beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Please select the appropriate options for each row. 
Laboratory in clinical institution Private laboratory Animal health laboratory Commercial manufacturers of testing kits and materials Ministry of Health Ministry other than the Ministry of Health
National public health institute
 Regional health governance structure Public health officials National expert and/or advisory groups Healthcare professionals and/or management in hospitals Healthcare professionals and/or management in long term care Not applicable Other, namely
 
 
TABLE 5

You have stated that you believe less and/or other actors should have been involved in the development of the testing strategy throughout the COVID-19 pandemic. 
Please fill in the matrix and select which actors you believe should have been involved in the development of the testing strategy for the different target groups throughout the COVID-19 pandemic.
Please select the appropriate options for each row. 
Laboratory in clinical institution Private laboratory Animal health laboratory Commercial manufacturers of testing kits and materials Ministry of Health Ministry other than the Ministry of Health
National public health institute
 Regional health governance structure Public health officials National expert and/or advisory groups Healthcare professionals and/or management in hospitals Healthcare professionals and/or management in long term care Not applicable Other, namely
 
 

Section 4: Problems faced during the development and the implementation of the SARS-CoV-2 testing strategy
 
 

Section 5: The success of your country's national SARS-CoV-2 testing policy
On a scale of 1 to 10, how succesful would you rate your country's testing policy in the period...
1= Very unsuccesful 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 = Very succesful

Section 6: Conclusion
 
By completing this survey, you give permission for your pseudoanonymised data to be kept for a maximum of 15 years and for it to be used for scientific publications or other public presentations. The data will be handled in accordance with the RIVM privacy statement and General Data Privacy Regulation (GDPR).