On March 18, 2020, a small group of scientists ventured into Vo’, a quiet Italian hamlet at the centre of the largest COVID-19 outbreak in the world. Samples were collected from nearly the entire population and sent for molecular testing. The tests identified many infected villagers who were contagious, but showed no symptoms. Had these individuals not been identified, they would have unwittingly spread the disease to family and friends. By uncovering the virus in asymptomatic villagers however, the virus had no place to hide, and within weeks, COVID-19 was essentially eradicated from Vo’.

While the rest of the world should have learned from this important study, many countries chose instead to view the Vo’ study as a curiosity — a little experiment that cannot be practically reproduced on a large scale, firm in their belief that we must “learn to live with” the virus…

We felt differently, and so a small group of talented scientists at Genetrack Biolabs got together to develop a highly sensitive and easily accessible test that anyone can use. We took on the namesake of the small city of Vo’ as an inspiration that combatting the largest problems starts off with courageous actions at the lowest levels.